19 Years Later, For Neville!
by RH4L
Summary: OK, So we know what happens 19 years later with our main heroes, but what about Neville? Follow him as he falls in love for the first time, and learns that it's never too late, even when you think love's passed you by. Rated T, but could change. NLLB
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: September 24, 2007

**CHAPTER 1**

As the beam of sunlight slowly inched its way up his face, making its inevitably annoying way towards his eyes, Neville Longbottom was blissfully unaware that he only had precious minutes left before an abrupt end would be called to his peaceful slumber. Eventually, the heat and brightness upon his eyelids forcing him awake, Neville opened his eyes and then quickly shut them, wondering for what seemed like the millionth time why exactly the cruel joke of dilated pupils first-thing in the morning was set upon man.

Finally feeling the removal of the daggers from his retinas, Neville once again tried his luck at raising his eyelids, having only marginal success. Moving so that his head was no longer being assaulted by the sun, Neville stretched languidly, as his mind and senses slowly arose with the rest of his body. As he did most mornings, Neville thought over his morning conundrum, still unable to decide which position he preferred. While he greatly appreciated being able to sleep until the sun should choose to awaken him, he held equal love for the early morning awakenings of fall, winter and spring, as they would mean that he once again had students to teach the fine art of herbology. His mind taking an unintentional trip twenty years in the past, Neville quickly remembered how lucky he was to be presented with such a light-hearted set of circumstances.

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Neville turned his gaze upon his combination calendar/wall clock (which, to the muggle eye, would look nothing like either, but rather a bit of non-informative star chart that, upon closer inspection, appeared to have moving stars and planets), and saw that it was just after eight o'clock in the morning. Deciding that he had wasted enough time for one morning, Neville removed himself from his covers and set about his morning activities.

After a much needed trip to the loo, Neville quickly made his way to the door connecting his one-room living quarters with Hogwarts greenhouse four. While he would have to be dressed in order to tend to the other greenhouses, he took about caring for the plants in this greenhouse wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. While most would no doubt find his antics strange, Neville greatly appreciated his early morning, near-naked, plant care chores. Somehow, putting himself into this situation made him feel closer to the nature he so graciously surrounded himself with on a day-by-day basis. He had often considered ditching even the boxers, but that seemed a bit much. What if someone were to just…walk in?

Having finished with this greenhouse, Neville quickly got dressed in a drab, gray, muggle sweat suit and a pair of worn muggle athletic trainers, before tending to his other responsibilities pertaining to the plant life of Hogwarts. He quickly made his way through his chores, greatly anticipating his most favorite of daily activities.

In the seven years (Merlin, has it been that long already?) that Neville has been teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, rarely had a morning passed that he had not traveled the roughly five-kilometer-long shoreline of the lake nearby. In his first five years, Neville had paced the trip at a slow jog, however, these last two years Neville's knees had deteriorated to the point that even Poppy Pomfrey's pain potions would not ease his discomfort, so he had resigned himself to a brisk walk. While he had offered on numerous occasions for his fellow professors to accompany him, Neville was secretly very pleased that none would accept, as he took great pleasure in the solitude with nature that these walks afforded. The grounds around the lake harbored possibly the most diverse amount of wild magical plant life in all of Great Britain. While he loved his domesticated plants back in the greenhouses, for Neville, there was just something about seeing a plant growing, no, thriving in the wild that reminded him why Herbology was his life's passion in the first place.

Gazing out upon the lake's flat surface and feeling the faint breeze upon his face, Neville could tell that today was going to be yet another astonishingly wonderful summer day. This year's summer had been unconventionally cool, allowing for some incredibly gorgeous days. Suddenly, the surface of the water broke roughly ten meters from where Neville had stopped to study the health of a small shrub, and a set of familiar tentacles rose from the depths of the lake. While most would have been startled by this, Neville merely shrugged and searched the ground, until his eyes rested upon a particularly fat and tasty looking (well, at least for a squid) water slug. Scrunching up his sleeve and gripping the slug firmly, he drew back and hurled the book-sized creature at the tentacles, which gracefully clipped the slug from mid-air. He wasn't sure, but Neville could have sworn he saw one of the squid's tentacles give him a short wave before settling back into the water.

* * *

Having finished his walk around the lake, Neville returned to his quarters to take a quick shower, and was surprised to find a medium sized, brown and white speckled owl waiting for him on his writing desk. Knowing who the owner of the owl was, the surprise was not who was sending him any correspondence, but rather why. He was certainly not expecting anything from his boss.

Untying the small piece of parchment from the owl, he fed it some treats before sending it on its way. He then opened the folded letter and began to read:

_Professor Longbottom,_

_I am requesting your presence today to have lunch in my office so that I may discuss a few…extra duties that I wish for you to take on this year. Please be in mind that what I will be propositioning will only be optional on your part, not mandatory. Lunch will be served promptly at twelve noon. Thank you in advance Neville,_

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

'Extra duties? What could that mean?' he asked himself. 'No matter, I guess I'll just have to figure out when I get there.' Taking the parchment and feeding it to one of his many wood-pulp eating plants, Neville glanced at his watch, seeing that it was only 10:30. Figuring that he had plenty of time before lunch to start preparing many of his lesson plans for the coming school year, Neville pulled out the handy work planner Hermione had gotten him for Christmas three years ago (though Ron had made considerable fun of this gift, Neville had gone out of his way to make sure Hermione was aware that it was, in fact, one of the more useful gifts he had ever received.) and started writing.

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in, Neville," came McGonagall's stern sounding reply through the heavy wood door.

"Hello, Professor, and thank you for inviting me to lunch." As he passed through the doorway, Neville smirked at the fact that even now, after all these years, the office still seemed strangely empty without all of Professor's many strange gadgets and detectors.

"Neville, please, I have asked you repeatedly since you became a professor here to refer to me as Minerva. You seem to have no problem calling other faculty members by their first names, why not me?" McGonagall questioned, with a slightly raised left eyebrow.

"Sorry Prof…er, Minerva, it's just difficult for me to be on such a personal basis with my former head of house."

"No matter, I just hope that someday, preferably _before_ I die, you are comfortable enough to do so. Yes, I was your head of house, but might I remind you that that is a house you are now head of."

"Indeed, Minerva, I will make more of an effort in the future."

As Neville said this, an old, muggle, grandfather style clock to his right began to chime the time as having reached twelve o'clock. At the ringing of the last chime, Neville was slightly startled as a house elf "popped" into the room carrying two covered platters. Setting the platters on the Headmistress' desk, the tea-towel wearing elf then removed the covers to reveal sandwiches, sliced apples and a carafe of pumpkin juice set with a cooling charm. Turning to McGonagall and bowing, the elf asking in a squeaky voice, "Will there be anything else, master?"

"No, thank you, Blinky. That will be all."

"Of course, master" the elf replied, bowing once again before turning and bowing to Neville as well. Then, with a slight pop, the elf disapparated, most likely going back to the kitchens.

"They always startle me when they apparate in like that" McGonagall stated.

Forming a slight smirk, Neville retorted, "You just better make sure Hermione Weasley doesn't hear about you having an elf serve you in your office, or you may end up being more than startled."

Staring at each other for a few seconds, the pair broke out into peeling laughter that lasted a short while.

Catching her breath, McGonagall said, "Believe me, the last thing I want is to have her breathing down my neck about the Hogwarts elves. Right tenacious, that one. I've already forced wages on all of the elves here, although truth be told, not a one of them is happy about it. But I'll be damned if I'll ever tell her that." They laughed again, as they both silently agreed that that would be a very foolish thing to do.

"Speaking of the Weasley's, Neville, I know you keep in touch with them, how are they these days?"

"Oh, same as usual, I suppose. Ron's still working as an aurer, while Hermione's still working in the Department of Regulation for Magical Creatures, forever fighting the good fight with regards to magical creatures' rights. Ron still drives Hermione crazy, she still loves it, although she'd never admit to it. Right now, they and the Potter's are just excited because Rose and Albus will be starting school this year. Little Rosie is so excited she can barely talk half the time, while Albus seems to be taking it more…nervously." Neville chuckled as he thought of the soft spoken boy, clearly more like his father in terms of personality.

"Merlin, how strange is it to hear that name again?" responded McGonagall's soft Scottish accent, with a far away look on her face.

"Tell me about it. Anyway, Rose and Albus couldn't be more different in personality, but Merlin, Minerva, you leave those two alone together, and you'll be checking for everything you own to make sure it doesn't blow up in your face. Al may be soft spoken, but Rosie definitely has picked up some of her Uncle George's pranking tendencies, and she's already adopted Al as her partner in crime."

Smiling, McGonagall asked, "And what about George Weasley? Do we have anything more to worry about this year?"

"Sorry, I wouldn't know, George won't share any of his new stuff with me, says that would be 'sleeping with the enemy'. I can tell you, though, that he just opened a new Wheezes shop in Paris, officially making the jump to the continent. That makes twenty stores open now, not including all the mail-order business they do."

"Good, let Beauxbatons get a taste of what we've been living with for the past twenty-two years." McGonagall spat, although she had a mirthful twinkle in her eye.

"Harry and Ginny are still doing the same, Ginny's still working at St. Mungo's , and Harry's still taking care of the kids. Personally, I think he just likes being out of the limelight, but I wouldn't know for sure."

"Well, Neville, I suppose I should get down to business," McGonagall stated, picking up a sandwich from the tray and pouring both of them a glass of pumpkin juice. "I have asked you hear today to share with you a piece of information that, until the start of term, I wish to remain secret among the other Hogwarts instructors. You see, I have been looking at my life lately, and I have realized that I am definitely not getting any younger." At this, McGonagall had to wave Neville down as he started to protest. "Please, Neville, as much as you flatter me, we both know it to be true."

Sitting back, Neville took a good look at his former professor for the first time, and he realized that she was probably more correct than he wanted to believe. Her formerly auburn hair was now completely grey, and the bags under her eyes had definitely increased in size. Also, her spine had curved slightly, so that she now stood with a slight hunch to her back, and she had to walk with a cane, due to arthritis in her hip. Indeed, though he may not want to openly admit it, Minerva McGonagall was definitely showing her age.

Continuing on, McGonagall stated, "I've decided that I wish to do some traveling before my body gets too old to do so, therefore, I've made the decision to retire, effective next year. While she does not know it, I've decided to recommend, and the board of reviewers have accepted my recommendation, Professor Morrissey for the post left vacant with my retirement. This is where you come in. As the Transfiguration instructor position is opening with Professor Morrissey's advancement, I have already taken the liberty of hiring a new professor, one of my favorite former students, who will be here at the start of term. In fact, you actually know her quite well, seeing as she was not only in your year here at school, but was indeed in your house." With this, McGonagall stopped, placing a slight smirk on her face, clearly wishing for Neville to guess as to the mystery professor's identity.

Only one name came to mind, but the idea confused Neville. "Uh, Professor, as much as I'm sure she'll be thrilled at your recommendation, I'm not sure Hermione would leave her position in the ministry."

Unable to control her mirth, McGonagall began laughing, finally subsiding enough that she could counter Neville's statement. "No, no, Neville, while Hermione was indeed one of my favorite former students, I was actually referring to Ms. Lavender Brown."

Stunned, Neville was stilled for a moment, before finally coming to his senses. "Wow, there's a name I haven't heard before, although I thought it was no longer Miss Brown, but rather, Mrs. Johanesson?"

"Well, that is not my place to discuss," McGonagall said, rather sternly. "At any rate, I have asked for your assistance, because I wish for you to act as a sort of mentor for Ms. Brown, as she will be unable to arrive at the school before the students. I wish for you to…take her under your wing, so to speak. While Professor Morrissey will take full responsibilities in terms of showing her the ropes in the classroom, Ms. Brown will need someone to help her become more comfortable in this environment, as a teacher, rather than a student. Can I count on you, Neville?"

Without hesitation, Neville replied, "Absolutely, professor, of course. I'd be happy to help, and I get the bonus of getting to hang out with one of my old friends, as well. This should be fun!"

"Thank you, Neville, I was hoping you'd say that."

"Professor, I just was wondering one more thing. I know you said you wanted to keep this quiet; however I am having dinner with the Potters and the Weasleys this coming Sunday, and I was just wondering if I might be able to tell them," Neville questioned.

Giving him a piercing glare, McGonagall finally shot back, "I suppose that would be acceptable, Neville, however I must stress to you once again that I wish for this to remain secret to the professors here. You must make sure that they understand that they are to pass this information along to NO ONE. Is that understood, Mr. Longbottom?"

Hearing his surname, Neville became suddenly nervous, feeling an all too familiar sensation of being scolded by this stern witch. "Absolutely, Prof, er, Minerva. I'll make sure they understand before I tell them."

"Good. Now that business is out of the way, please continue on informing me of the goings-on outside these walls."

Continuing with small talk, their lunch lasted another twenty minutes, until Neville politely excused himself so that he could continue with his lesson planning. As Neville was opening the door to the office, McGonagall called his attention one last time. "Oh, Neville, by the way, though it is the duty of the incoming headmistress to name a deputy, it is my full intention to offer you as my recommendation for the post. I do not see her having any problem with my recommendation, as she has always appreciated your work here. Do you foresee having any problem fulfilling that position?"

Stunned at this new bit of information, Neville turned slightly pink as he replied, "N-no, Professor, er, I mean Mi-Minerva, I wouldn't have any problem at all. Thank you. Thank you very much!" Then, adding as an afterthought, "Oh, and just so you know, you will be greatly missed."

With a slight smile and a wave over her hand, McGonagall sent him away. "Very well, thank you and good day, Neville, and I'll see you around the grounds, I'm sure."

Quickly exiting the office, Neville could barely contain his glee at his potential advancement. Sprinting down the hallways, he was at a loss as to how to keep this information to himself, and he found himself hoping for Sunday to arrive just a bit sooner.

* * *

A/N: Well, here it is, my first chapter of my first ever fan fic. I have always thought that out of all of Jo's characters, these two have received the shaft the most. With Neville, it's easy to see, but I'm sure many of you out there are questioning my meaning with regards to Lavender. Well, really, what was her crime? I mean, she has been severely vilified in most of the fan fics I have read, and for what, going out with Ron for part of sixth year? I mean, don't get me wrong, I am a huge Ron/Hermione shipper, but I just can't see treating Lavender the way most authors do. As for Neville, well, how come everybody in the book finds love but him? I mean, Neville needs some lovin' too, right? Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, and please review, not only to tell me what you think, but also to offer any suggestions, if you have any. I am a very open minded author, so I won't hesitate to use someone's idea if I like it.

Hey, by the way, I would very much like to have a beta, so if anybody out there is interested, let me know. Thanks.

Oh, last thing, this chapter turned out much longer than I had planned it, so future chaps might not be as long. Then again, as long-winded as I am, they may be longer!!

Cheers!!


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: September 25, 2007

**CHAPTER 2**

Approaching the front door of Harry and Ginny's family home, Neville was disturbed when he thought he could hear the shrill sound of Hermione's voice. Wondering what she could be yelling at, and at the same time understanding that the chances that it was anybody OTHER than Ron were slim, Neville reached his hand to knock on the door, when at the last second, he retracted. Looking to his right, he was pleasantly surprised to see a small button, one he knew to be a muggle door ringer. Reaching his finger, Neville began, as would any good wizard would, to play with the ringer.

Ring…..Ring…..RIIIIING….._RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!_

No matter how many times he played with this contraption, he could never get enough of it. After a few more seconds, however, a familiar head of red hair stuck out the bedroom window, no doubt looking for the creator of the annoying sound.

"Neville, for Merlin's sake, STOP RINGING THE DAMN BELL!! I swear, sometimes you are no better than Ron." Shouted Ginny in an exasperated tone.

"Hey, I take exception to that!" He cried back, all be it in a jovial tone of voice.

"Wouldn't we all? Anyways, go ahead and let yourself in, I'll meet you in the hall in a few seconds."

Chuckling to himself at Ginny's jab at her brother, Neville opened the door and entered the house that he knew to have the craziest of atmospheres, yet also to be one of the most loving. Vaguely catching the hint of what he thought for sure was pot roast, Neville had just taken off his jacket and placed it in the coat closet when suddenly all his thoughts of what was for dinner vanished as he found himself quickly rising to the ceiling. Wondering what was happening, but not really panicking too much yet, he had just enough time to get a slight idea into his head as to who was responsible when…smack! He crashed into the hallway ceiling. Not only that, but apparently, he was also sticking to the ceiling. 'Interesting,' he thought to himself. 'Never seen this one before.'

"Uh…..Harry? Ron? GINNY!?!?" Although he still did not feel much panic, he was definitely starting to become uncomfortable, as every part of his body that _could_ stick to the ceiling indeed _was_ sticking to the ceiling. So much so that he found the only parts of his body he could currently move were the features of his face.

Suddenly, Ginny's head poked out of the master bedroom, looking both ways up and down the corridor, her face seeming complex. Before Neville even had a chance to call out to her, however, she had closed the door, muttering a quiet "huh" as she did so. "Wait Gi-…..bugger."

About half a minute later, Neville's rescue finally came when the tall lanky form of Ronald Weasley came into view. "Hey, I thought I heard Nev…Neville, what are you doing up there?" he asked, in his most curious tone, a slight smirk coming to his face.

"Oh, you know, I always wondered what the view was like from up here, so I THOUGHT I'D CHECK IT OUT!!" Neville shouted these last few words, hoping to get his very sarcastic tone across. "Now, if you don't mind, this is slightly uncomfortable, so, do you think you could find it in your heart to GET ME DOWN?!?"

"Hold on just a sec, everyone's gotta see this first. GINNY!! Come out here, you're not gonna believe this!" Ron yelled, barely containing his mirth in order to call his sister into the room. Seconds later, Ginny's head once again emerged from the master bedroom, about to scold Ron for shouting in the house, when her eyes inevitable followed his pointed hand to the ceiling.

With a slightly confused, slightly surprised look on her face, Ginny opened and closed her mouth a few times, obviously attempting to find the correct words for the situation. 'Oh, no, here it comes again,' Neville thought.

"What on earth are you doi…." Ginny began, and then suddenly, she stopped. As quickly as it came, the look on her face vanished, to be replaced by a look of extreme anger, along with a heavy blush. "ALBUS! ROSE! Get your behinds out here, NOOWWW!!!" The house seemed to almost shake at the last word.

Hearing the thundering of footsteps from nearby, seconds later Neville saw a doorway opposite the master bedroom open, and to children walk out, one with a head full of shoulder length, bright read curls, the other with having a eternally messy, jet black mane. The red-head looked from the whimsical expression of her father to the stern-to-the-point-of-angry expression of her aunt, and must have sensed trouble, for she instantly adopted a smile upon her face that seemed sweet enough to rot teeth, and with big, pouty eyes, looked straight at her father, before cheerfully asking, "Hi, Daddy! Is everything OK?"

At this point, even Neville could barely contain his laughter at the ever-so-obvious attempt to escape from the clutches of trouble. It was not to be, however; just as Ron was about to answer his lovely child, Ginny held up a hand to his face, effectively silencing any comment.

Pointing to the ceiling, Ginny asked in a harsh tone, "Care to explain this? And before either of you answer, I should let you know now that your dinner for this evening DEFINITELY counts on your answer. Oh, and Rosie, sweetie, that sugary-syrup smile may work on your father, but it has no effect on me, so you can drop it right now."

Looking to the ceiling, both children quickly became apprised of the situation. While Albus immediately ducked his head, blushed heavily, and began staring at his shoes, Rose on the other hand appeared to be having great difficulty avoiding giggling, so she was attempting to hide her face in her hands. After a few seconds of deathly quiet, Albus finally spoke up.

"Well, I, uh, kinda-sorta, uh, maybe had some stuff from the triple W, b-but, itwasRosie'sideatouseit!" He sputtered out this last bit very fast, and then quickly averted his face so that he could not see his cohort in crime.

"Hey, it was _your_ idea to use the sticking charm on the ceiling, _Al_," was Rose's agitated reply.

Just then, the door to the kitchen opened, and who should decide to walk in, but the boy-who-lived himself, Harry Potter. "Ginny, did I hear you yelling for Al? What's he done…hey Neville, how's the view from up there?"

"Just peachy, Harry; thanks for asking."

This comment quickly broke any semblance of seriousness from both Rose and her father, as both broke into peels of laughter. Ginny, looking curiously like she was attempting to hide her own mirth, quickly commented, "Harry, please. I'm _trying_ to be serious here. Sure, this seems funny, but who knows who could've been hurt under different circumstances? And as for you, _Ronald_, I don't see how you expect this sort of behavior to help in the development of your child's young mind!"

Harry, with a quick "Yes, dear" swiftly retreated to the sanctuary of the kitchen at this point. As he was opening the door, Hermione's agitated voice could be heard shouting, "Whatever that git of a husband of mine is doing, Ginny, it's pointless to try to talk any sense into him, I learned a long time ago that he's too thick to see reason."

"Hey!!" shouted back Ron's slightly indignant response.

"As nice as this whole family moment is to witness from up here, for the last time, would somebody mind terribly GETTING ME THE HELL DOWN FROM HERE!?!?" Neville yelled, ignoring the language admonishment from Hermione in the kitchen and hoping to catch _anybody's_ attention. Snapping out of her current thoughts, Ginny quickly stated, "Ooh, sorry Neville," before absentmindedly waving her wand, effectively releasing the sticking charm. All might have been well at that point, had Ginny only remembered to cast any form of levitation charm prior to releasing him from his prison. As it was, the four people current standing in the hallway watched in horror as Neville quickly smashed face first into the hardwood flooring below.

After a few seconds of disbelief, Ginny rushed forward hurriedly, hooking an arm under his shoulder and helping him to his feet. "Ohh, Neville, I'm so, so sorry! Are you OK? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Neville, eyes swimming in tears, responded in what he hoped was his most manly voice, "Oh, do, dod't worry, Giddy, I'b fide. I thidk I broke the fall wid by dose." As he said this, he noticed to a slight trickle of warmth on his chin, and looking down, he could see that his nose was currently soaking the front of his shirt.

Quickly changing personality into "healer mode", Ginny assessed the situation, finally stating somewhat impassively, "Well, it doesn't appear to be too serious, here, stand still for a minute." With this, Ginny once again brandished her wand, and after huffing because of the slight wince on Neville's part, muttered a few different healing charms, followed by a scourgifying charm. Finally, she asked, "There, how does this feel?" then reached up and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

Feeling no pain, Neville responded, "Much better, thank you."

Swiftly turning back to the children, her demeanor and expression once again reforming into full on "mum mode", Ginny quickly scolded the two children who up until now had attempted to garner as little attention as possible. "You see? You see what acting irresponsible does? Now, I want both of you to apologize to your Uncle Neville, then go back to Al's room, and don't even think about dinner tonight!"

Seeing the stricken faces of two of his favorite children, and feeling slightly sorry for them, Neville quickly attempted to avert some of the children's trouble. "Now, Ginny, I'm sure it was all in good fun, and see, I'm not even hurt. I don't think missing dinner is _absolutely_ necessary."

Ron, chimed in his bit, "Yeah, and besides, their growing children! To deny them dinner is just cruel. Also, look at their faces; you can obviously see they're sorry."

Wishing not to look at the children, but uncontrollably doing so anyway, Ginny was caught between two of the saddest pairs of doe eyes that have ever graced her presence. "Oh, well, I suppose I can think about it. Now, go hug your Uncle and go to your room, before I change my mind."

Albus, seeing this as his cue to escape the clutches of sure death, quickly ran and practically jumped into the arms of the kneeling herbology professor, muttering, "I'm sorry, Uncle Neville, I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

Quickly joining the two, Rose added her hug to the mix, contributing, "Yeah, sorry Uncle Neville, we didn't mean any harm. We were only trying to have a little fun."

Feeling slightly conspiratorial, Neville pulled both children in close and whispered into their ears, "It's ok, guys, now both of you mind Ginny, and between us, I thought it was a fabulous prank. Be sure to tell your Uncle George as soon as you can."

"I heard that!" came an infuriated reply from Ginny, as she threw her hands in the air and turned for the kitchen, muttering under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Men. Why do I bother?" before disappearing.

Albus turned quickly and ran for his room, but Rose simply pulled back, a huge, tooth filled smile on her face, then leaned in and gave Neville a great big kiss on the cheek then whispered loudly, "Thanks, Uncle Neville, it really was a gas, wasn't it?" She then quickly ran to her room and slammed the door.

Ron, having witnessed this display, grinned broadly, patting Neville on the back as he came forward, said, "She really has taken a liking to you, eh?"

* * *

Blushing slightly, Neville ducked his head and replied, "Yeah, well, it probably has something to do with the fact that I usually bring all the kids candy from Honeyduke's whenever I visit. Would have this time, but I thought they were going to be spending the night with their grandparents?"

"Yeah, well, that was the plan, but Mum and Dad had to cancel at the last minute. Something about leaky pipes needing to be taken care of in the kitchen," Ron stated before opening the kitchen door for the both of them. He then leaned in and whispered, "Between you and me, I think it has less to do with the kitchen's leaky pipes, and more to do with _Dad's_ leaky pipe, if you catch my drift."

At this, Neville reared back, sputtering out, "Yuck, Ron…..yuck."

"You're telling me, mate. But I'm tellin' ya, ever since those two got all us kids out of the house, they've been acting like a couple of randy buggers, that's for sure."

Hoping to change the subject to something a little less nauseating, Neville quickly walked up to Ginny, stating, "I don't think I got my proper greeting yet," before giving her a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

Seeing this, with a big smile on his face, Harry said, "Hey! Watch where you put your hands, buddy!!" earning himself a smack on the shoulder from his wife.

Chuckling to himself, Neville than worked his way over to the stove, where Hermione was currently stirring a pot of what appeared to be gravy and gave her a quick peck as well before offering a greeting. This earned him a smile in return from the bushy haired brunette.

Ron, not to be outdone, loudly stated, "Oi! That looks like a grand idea, mate!" He then sauntered his way over to his wife, hugging her from behind, offering what Neville thought looked like a loving gesture of closeness. Hermione apparently didn't agree, however, as she quickly stopped stirring the gravy, her face taking on a deathly glare that Ron unfortunately couldn't see, before tersely grumbling, "If you know what's good for you, _Ronald_, you'll take your hands off me right now!"

Quickly raising his hands in mock surrender, Ron quickly backed away before stating in an overly audacious to tone, "Well bloody excuuuuuuse me!"

Harry began laughing before stating, "You'd better make a run for it while you can still can, mate. Remember, there're knives in here, you wait too long and you might be missing an arm or a leg by the time you leave."

Everybody laughed openly at this, all except Hermione, who quickly turned to Harry, still holding her death glare in place, brandishing her wooden spoon. "Harry James Potter! This is not funny! Why do you two always have to make a joke about EVERYTHING!?!?"

'What's wrong with Hermione?' Neville thought to himself. She seemed so overly emotional and on edge, which was strange, because normally she was such a down to earth person. In fact, that was always one of her more redeeming qualities, at least as far as he was concerned. 'The last time I saw her anywhere near this irrational, she was preg…' Neville cut off this last thought, his face draining of color as he adopted a look of surprise.

Harry, being the only one who had seen this change, grinned madly before speaking to everyone else in the room. "Guys, I think Neville here may just have figured out a thing or two on his own. Care to share your thoughts with the rest of us, Nev?"

"Well, I mean, that is to say, er…" Neville found it infuriatingly difficult to voice his thoughts on this. With a blush beginning to creep up his cheeks, he avoided all eyes as he finally stated, "I was just thinking that the last time I saw Hermione being this irrat…erm, that is to say, _emotional_ was when she was pregnant with Hugo."

This apparently was the wrong statement to make, however, as Hermione suddenly turned from the stove, threw the wooden spoon at the group of people looking at her then half yelled, half cried, "I don't know why we even bother to try and surprise people with anything anymore, since all you people seem to do is ruin it!" With that, she stomped out of the room, slamming a door a few seconds later.

Taking a few seconds to let the shock of the situation settle in, Neville finally turned to Ron, "Is it true then?"

Grinning so wide his face looked as though it might split in half, Ron simply nodded, and then added, "Yup, sure is. Two months along. Before you ask, we've decided we don't want to know the sex until the baby's born. We learned before hand with both Rosie and Hugo, this time, though, we want it to be a surprise."

"Wow, mate, congratulations," Neville stated, getting up from the table and rounding it to pat him manly on the back a couple times.

"Thanks, although, if you're wondering about the tirade earlier, this pregnancy wasn't exactly expected."

At this, Harry and Ginny both began howling with laughter and Neville waited for them to elaborate.

"That was an understatement, mate. Nev, you should have been here the day Ginny first diagnosed the pregnancy. Mione just though she was gonna get some kind of anti-stomach flu potion or something, then BAM! Ginny pops her right between the eyes with 'Guess what, Mione, you're pregnant!' After the shock wore off, next thing she does is grab Ginny's wand, and starts hurling hexes at Ron! I was laughing so hard I was barely able to grab a hold of her, and mate, let me tell you, when Mione wants to do something, she can be VERY difficult to hold back. Anyways, as I'm holding her, it gets even more difficult to hold her back, because she keeps shouting out different ways she's gonna hex Ron's bits off. You should have seen the poor bloke, half way torn between celebrating and covering himself to avoid any errant spells. It was hilarious!" At the end of this story, both Neville and Harry began laughing so hysterically they had to use the table to hold themselves up.

"Oi! You try being passive about that when you're married to a witch who not only has the means, but also the temperament to fulfill such things. Besides Harry, you shouldn't get too comfortable telling that story, you never know when you and Ginny might have a little "accident". If it does happen, I better be there to hear the news when you do."

Almost absentmindedly, Ginny remarked, "Oh, no, that's impossible now."

Taking on a look half way between confusion and suspicion, Neville turned to Ginny and asked, "How's it impossible? I mean, you have three kids, so you know you're capable of getting pregnant."

Realizing too late her mistake, Ginny tried to cover. "No, no, I just mean that Harry and I have taken…precautions to make sure that we cannot get pregnant."

"What do you mean _precautions_?" was Ron's even more suspicious reply. He then abruptly turned to Harry and growled out, "What have you done to my sister?"

Turning to his wife and apparently begging for help, Harry became resolute as she simply shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head lightly, before turning back to face an increasingly angry Ron. "No, mate, it's nothing like that. Nothing was done to _her_. I was the one that was…taken care of."

At this, Ron relaxed slightly, before responding, "What do you mean "taken care of"? Harry, you better start making some kind of sense soon."

"Look, Ron, I didn't want to tell you this, because I knew you'd over react, but here goes. See, after Lily was born, Gin and I, we had a talk, and, well, we both decided that three kids, not to mention Teddy, was enough, ya know?" Ron nodded. "Anyways, so we talked it over, and Gin knew this way, this muggle way, that we could make sure that we didn't even have any more children. Now, before we go any further, I just want you to know that, at first, Gin suggested that _she_ be the one to be taken care of, but I refused, I would only agree if it was me."

Looking less angry and more curious, Ron asked, "So, what, did you take some sort of pill, or something?"

"Not quite exactly. See, there are pills that can make women keep from getting pregnant, but they have to take them every day, or they don't work. Gin and I were looking for something a little more…permanent. So, I had an operation done, called a vasectomy. It's really a very simple, basic operation that just makes sure that I cannot make swimmers anymore, you know what I'm saying?" At this point, Harry lost track of who he was talking to, and went off on a tangent. "I mean, you should really consider it, Ron. Think about it, you can have sex as much as you want, without taking any chances, ya know?"

Ron, however, did not hear this last part, for the feeling of horror within him was slowly spreading as he looked at his best mate. Finally, he held up a hand to silence Harry, and then began to speak quietly, building up steam as he went along. "Wait, wait, wait. You mean to tell me, that you let one of those ruddy muggle _mad scientists_ near your bits? YOUR BITS, MAN? ARE YOU MAD!?!?!?!? HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND!?!? Harry, Merlin, Harry…that's about the stupidest thing I think I've ever heard. How on earth did you ever come up with something as stupid like that?"

At this, Ginny finally had her fill, and turned on her brother. "Before you call my husband stupid, might I remind you that _your wife_ is the one who got pregnant by accident? Stop being so thick, Ron!"

* * *

Deciding that he had had enough of this particular conversation, Neville quickly excused himself from the table and headed out the kitchen to try and find Hermione. He was a little worried that she hadn't come back yet.

Heading down the hallway, he stopped when he reached the door to the master bedroom, figuring that's where she would go to be alone. After tentatively knocking, he heard a muffled, "Come in," from behind the door. Preparing himself for danger, Neville slowly opened the door.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight he walked in on, however, as he spied Hermione, simply sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over, staring at a picture of her and Ron from their wedding day that she had taken down from the walls. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to try out his somewhat pathetic and limited comforting skills, Neville took the seat besides his bushy-haired friend, and put an arm around her shoulders. Almost instantly, her head lay over on his shoulder, and she began to cry.

"Oh, Neville, what am I going to do? I mean, I'm almost 38 years old, for Heaven's sake. Ron and I aren't supposed to be having children now; we're supposed to be thinking about what we're going to do after our children have left. I mean, even Mum and Dad Weasley weren't this old when they had Ginny!" At this, Hermione stopped suddenly and pulled away, grabbing two handfuls of Neville's jumper and jerking him to attention. "Do you realize what this means, Neville? Ron and I, We're going to be the "old parents". You know, the ones who are so old that their child is slightly ashamed of them? Dear god, Neville, what have we done? Ron and I, We've doomed our child to a future of trying to hide his parents!"

Seeing that this situation was turning dangerous quickly, Neville decided to take action. Cutting her off from her rant, Neville interceded, "First of all, if anybody knows about growing up with somebody old, it's me. Remember, how my Gran raised me? There was never a time when I was EVER ashamed of her for her age. I mean, sure, I missed my parents, I still do. But to be honest, I wouldn't have traded my time with her for anything. She could be stern, but she was a loving and caring witch, and she cared for me right up until the day she died. Now, secondly, Hermione, dear, you are anything but old. You have to look at this from a better point of view. By the time this child graduates from Hogwarts, you and Ron will still only be, what, fifty-seven? Even muggles are living into their eighties nowadays, and you two are magical, so you know you'll last longer than that. I'm telling you, you'll probably be bouncing this child's grandchildren on your knee before it's all said and done. And besides, look at Ron. I mean, don't ever tell him I said this, but how lucky are you to have such a great husband? When he confirmed your pregnancy to me, he had the biggest grin in humanity plastered on his face. You have a husband who worships you, children who love you, in other words, you have a great life!"

At this, Hermione smiled, "Yeah, I suppose it could be worse. Oh, who am I kidding, I probably have the best life of anybody I know. It's just…I'm scared, Nev. But, I think you're right, I should just be more positive about this, I mean I'm having a baby!! And also, Ron has been about the happiest I've seen him for the past year. To tell you the truth, he's been freaking out for six months now about Rosie going off to Hogwarts, always trying to come up with excuses for why she should wait another year before leaving. This is just between you and me, but it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen."

At this, Ginny's call for dinner came floating down the hallway.

"Well, I suppose we should go eat. Hey Nev, tell me something, when did you become so great to talk to?" questioned Hermione as they stood up and headed for the door.

"About the same time I stopped being afraid to talk in the first place, I suppose."

* * *

Dinner was as lively as ever. Neville was slightly worried that it would be a somber affair, what with the argument between Ron and Hermione hanging in the air, but right before everyone was served, Hermione pulled her husband out of the room, and the two didn't return for five minutes. 'I don't know what was said, but it sure seems to have worked', thought Neville, as the two were barely able to keep their eyes off one another for the rest of the night.

After dinner was finished and the children were put to bed (much to their own chagrin), Harry broke out a bottle of wine and the five old school friends proceeded to wile the night away, rehashing old school tales, of course much more grandly than they originally occurred. After a couple hours, Neville decided that it was time to share his bit of news with his friends.

"Well, everyone, I have a bit of a secret to share with regards to Hogwarts, but before I do, I must make sure that each of you know that you are not going to tell a soul what I'm about to tell you." At this, everyone in the room perked up, leaning forward and nodding their agreement. "Well, last week, McGonagall called me into her office for a lunchtime meeting. Well, when I got there, she dropped a little bombshell on me in the form of telling me that she is retiring, and that this year is going to be her last. Not-"

At this, however, he was cut off by a worried Hermione. "Oh, no, I hope she's alright."

"She's fine, from what she told me, she just wants to do some traveling before her health won't permit her to do so." At this point, Neville was once again cut off.

"Can't blame her on that one, she's been cooped up in that castle what, fifty, sixty years?" Ron piped in.

"Right. Anyways, as for her replacement, do any of you guys remember her replacement transfiguration teacher?"

Suddenly, Ginny jumped in, "Professor Morrissey, right? I had her for my last year. Is she really getting the job? I mean, I liked her, she seemed a very competent teacher, it's just a surprise, what with her background and all."

Frowning, Harry questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Neville probably knows this already, but, I mean to say, she is a _Slytherin_ after all. She would be what, the first Slytherin headmaster since Phineas Nigellus, right?" returned Ginny, a questioning look on her face.

Suddenly, Ron stood from his place and pounded a fist on the back of his chair, exclaiming, "Well, that does it then. I'll not have some Slytherin in charge of my children's school. Who knows what she'll be filling their heads with?"

"Oh stop being so thick, Ron, give her a chance. Now, let Neville finish," came Hermione's biting reply.

Grudgingly, Ron retook his seat, awaiting Neville's continuance. "No, no, Ron, I assure you, I've worked with this woman for seven years now, and I can assure you she's nothing like you're thinking. Granted, she is determined, but during the war, she was actually a big supporter of the resistance."

This seemed to appease Ron's anger, somewhat, so Neville decided to move on while he had the chance. "Anyways, now for my bit of news, McGonagall told me during the meeting that, while nothing is official, she will be recommending me for the soon to be vacant position of Deputy Headmaster!"

At this all his friends shouted congratulations, the girls getting up and giving him a hug, the guys offering manly slaps to the back.

"That's great, Neville! Wow, imagine if, someday down the road, we'll be friends with _Headmaster Longbottom_." Hermione said this last part with an overly exaggerated bit of authority. As everyone laughed, she finished by asking, "So, have they gotten anybody to fill the open transfiguration spot yet? I know a couple people down at the Ministry that would be just perfect."

Avoiding her eyes and squirming a little, Neville quietly replied, "Actually, they have already filled the position."

Seeing his discomfort, Hermione smiled and patted him on the shoulder saying, "Oh, come on, it can't be that bad, it's not like they would have hired Malfoy or anything."

At this, everybody began laughing again, Neville finally interrupting, "No, no, nobody like that. Actually, I have great confidence that she's going to be a fine teacher, it's just that, well, it's just…it's 'cough' Lavender 'cough'." Neville tried to cover this last bit, perfectly aware of she and Hermione's prior history.

"Excuse me, Nev; I don't think I heard you right on that last bit." All the mirth was gone from Hermione's face now, as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot agitatedly, waiting for a response.

"I said that the replacement instructor is…Lavender Brown."

At this, Harry interrupted, "Wait, I was at her wedding. Isn't it Lavender Johannesson, or some such business?"

"That's what I thought, but McGonagall assured me that it is indeed Brown, but she didn't elaborate."

"Well, it serves her right," huffed Hermione, "that _slag_ probably drove him out."

Feeling slightly angry by this response, Neville quickly admonished his friend. "Now, Hermione, you should be ashamed of yourself. None of us know the circumstances behind her apparent broken-up marriage, and we shouldn't speculate. It's rude."

Ducking her head in embarrassment, Hermione eventually squeaked out, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Yeah, and besides, what happened to 'give her a-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Ronald Billius Weasley, or you'll be finding out how comfortable our new couch is tonight _the hard way_," Hermione interrupted her husband.

Seeing the fiery look in her eyes, Ron quickly held back any further comment and shushed himself.

Looking at his watch, Ron blurted out, "Well, it's getting late, and we've both got work tomorrow morning. Congratulations again, Nev, the promotion's well deserved."

Also taking a glance at his watch and being surprised by the time, Neville said, "Thanks, Ron, although, like I said, nothing's official yet."

"Oh, Nev, I'm sure you'll get it," Commented Ginny after yawning widely.

Gathering his things and saying his final goodbyes, Neville apparated directly from Harry and Ginny's living room to outside the Hogwarts apparition wards. Walking towards the castle, taking his time on the cool summer night, Neville replayed the last part of the evening to himself. Telling the news had gone smashingly better than he had hoped for, what with the Slytherin headmaster _and_ the news of Lavender coming on the same night. One thing kept bothering Neville, however, as he walked in the half-moon light. 'Why did I feel so angry when Hermione insulted Lavender? I haven't even seen her in close to twenty years.'

Chalking it up to a combination of too much wine and a devotion to his workplace, he quickly expunged the thoughts from his mind.

* * *

A/N: Well, here's another chapter. This turned out to be sooo much more than I thought it would be, although, to be honest, this may be the last chapter we see Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny, so I wanted to get in all the good stuff I could think of. Did you like the part with Hermione and the baby? I'm undecided whether to make that a more important part of the chapter down the road. Anyways, hope you liked it, I had a blast writing the part about Neville being stuck to the roof. Until next time….

Oh, before I forget, chapters will probably come pretty fast for the next couple weeks, but after that, things will probably slow down considerably.

Cheers!!


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: September 26, 2007

**CHAPTER 3**

As he paced back and forth along the dark, narrow path, wringing his hands and sweating slightly, Neville wondered for must have been the millionth time what he was getting so upset about. 'Their just kids, damnit!' he told himself, yet again.

To the average bystander, this may have seemed like peculiar behavior, but then, the average bystander probably would not be aware of the fact that for the first time in his career, Neville Longbottom had been asked to lead the small collection of first years through this year's sorting ceremony in Professor Morrissey's place so that Professor McGonagall could have her seated comfortably at the staff table for her "surprise". He would be in front of all those people. _In that suddenly HUGE Great Hall!_

'I really have no problem with this job, I mean, if I get my promotion, I'll be doing this every year from now on," Neville thought to himself. 'It's just, come on McGonagall, did you have to wait until _this bleedin' morning_ to tell me?'

'Get a hold of yourself, Longbottom. It's not like you haven't been in front of all these students during classes at some point or another. Yeah, yeah, maybe never all of them at once before, and sure, maybe when you're teaching you've got a lesson plan to concentrate on so that you don't have to think about being the center of attention (something I've never, EVER, been any good at at all), and true, maybe…Oh just face it, Nev, you're sunk!'

A small part of Neville's brain, that he had stopped listening to hours earlier, continued to wonder if, perhaps, there were something else, or even _someone _else that might be adding to his anxiety problems. 'That's just foolish,' he had reprimanded himself; 'I haven't seen her in over nineteen years, why would she make me nervous now?'

While it is true that Neville is one-hundred percent, absolutely, in no way what-so-ever uncomfortable about the idea of being around Ms. Lavender Brown now (you better believe it!), there can be no denying that she USED TO give him a major case of upset nerves during their school years. How could she not, with her bubbly personality, ungodly popularity, and model-gorgeous looks to boot. To Neville, she had always been one of those "it" people, the type who were meant for far more great things than he could ever be. Add to it that unworldly beautiful sunshine-blonde hair, and how could anybody not be nervous around her?

"That was two decades ago, though!" Neville growled out through grinding teeth. "For Merlin's sake, if you get this promotion, you're going to be her superior! Now get.a.grip."

Deciding yet again that he was just acting foolish, Neville threw his hands in the air in disgust with his actions, and then continued with his pacing. If there was one silver lining in all this mess, it was that Neville would be up close and personal for the sorting of Rose and Albus. While he had not a second thought about Rose's sorting, she was a Weasley through and through after all, there was a slight worry about which house would be called for Al's placement. The boy just always seemed so quiet and timid, even if it was difficult for him to admit it, he just couldn't see Al possessing all that much Gryffindor courage. 'Then again, Longbottom, it's not like you have _always_ displayed a lion's share of courage yourself. I mean, you're still afraid of a girl after all.'

"Arrrgghhh!! Why am I still thinking of _her_!?!?" Neville growled out, vaguely hearing his voice echo off the stone walls.

"Thinking of who?" floated in a vaguely familiar voice from behind him. Neville was slightly taken aback by the fact that this voice was definitely deeper than it should have been for a first year, yet not nearly deep enough to have been the familiar gruff tones of Hagrid. Turning around, Neville was smacked in the face with a sight he was totally unready for.

Floating over to the small docking area were the many boats carrying all the first years. In the lead boat sat the familiar, all-be-it rather large, form of Hagrid, only this year, he was not alone. Sitting in front of him was the object of Neville's constant worries throughout the day. The first thing he noticed was her hair. While it still retained its familiar blonde coloring, whereas it was near waist length during their school days, now it was cut short, very short in fact. This seemed pleasing, however, as it accentuated what Neville could only describe as the most beautifully long and graceful neck he had ever seen. She hadn't grown any taller, and therefore was rather short, only reaching to maybe a little over one and a half meters. She wore deep, deep, almost burgundy-red robes, and the brightest smile Neville had seen in a while.

"Um, er, that is to say, I was talking about-"Neville was trying to stammer his way to an answer when he was saved by Hagrid.

"Alrigh', you lot of firs' years, this here's Professor Longbo'om, and he'll lead yer to yer sor'in'." In in a quieter tone, he faced Neville and said, "Neville, lad, wha' are ya doin' here? Where's Professor Morrissey?"

"Oh, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall's got her at the staff table already. Wanted her their for some reason or another."

"Righ', well, I'm sure you know wha' yer doin'," Hagrid said, eyeing his fellow professor with slight suspiscion. With that, he docked his small boat, and, reaching for his cane (which, to anybody of normal stature would have been absolutely ludicrous seeing as it was one and a half meters tall), Hagrid stepped out and began helping the students out of their boats as well. Most students seemed to remain very wary of the half giant as they left the boats, however Neville smiled as he saw both Rose and Al give the giant a hug as he helped them onto the dock.

Not paying attention, Neville was almost knocked into the water as Lavender hurled herself at him, flinging her arms around him in a tight gripping hug. "Neville, it's so good to see you!" she near shouted directly in his ear. With that, she pulled back and kissed Neville soundly on the cheek, causing him to blush profusely.

This was one aspect of Lavender's personality that Neville had forgotten about, her near unnatural ability to get uncomfortably close. For a British girl, she definitely did not have the normal sense of restraint. The fact that he was being warmly embraced directly in front of a group of students did not help him in his embarrassment. Desperately seeking some form of control, Neville quickly separated himself from the blonde beauty and turned to face the gaggle of students.

"Alright, for now I want you to follow these stairs until you reach the top, and then wait for me there for further instruction. Any questions?" Neville almost laughed out loud as he realized that three quarters of these students were probably so scared right now they wouldn't ask anything even if they had to. "Right, well, if any of you need to use the loo before the sorting, now is the time. Just ask Professor Hagrid, and he'll point you in the right direction."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Neville then turned to Lavender. "Professor Brown, it's great to see you. What's it been, near twenty years? Why are you with the first years, I figured you would be taking the carriages with the other students?"

"First things first, we need to put an end to this 'Professor Brown' nonsense right now, or you'll make me feel old. Come on, Neville, we're old friends, right? And second, when I heard from McGonagall that you were going to be leading the first years, I just had to take the ride across the lake to see you, and Hagrid here was wonderful enough to oblige!"

Blushing slightly, Hagrid averted his gaze while managing to mutter out, "Aww, 'twas nuttin'."

Blushing once again at being regarded as an "old friend", Neville once again addressed the female before him. "W-well, as n-nice as it will be to catch up, I'm afraid it will have to wait until after the feast. I've gotta get these first years through the sorting. I'm going up the stairs here, but if you follow Hagrid down this corridor, it will lead you to a back entrance that leads directly to the staff section of the Great Hall. I'll see you there."

Smiling brightly once again, Lavender once again kissed Neville on the cheek before giving a cheery wave and saying, "Alright, I'll hold you to that!" Then, she turned and walked down the corridor, sparking up a conversation with Hagrid about how exciting the whole evening would be.

* * *

Raising his hand up and briefly grazing his cheek, Neville quickly came back to his senses, turned, and promptly tripped over the first stair, barely catching himself before he fell. 'Merlin, I'm soooo done for,' he thought as he regained his composure, took a deep breath, and then concentrated heavily on his foot-falls. Approaching the gathered group of students, Neville was nearly jolted out of his trainers by the wave of nostalgia that hit him as he witnessed the scene taking place before him.

"Well, Weasel, I must say, I'm surprised. Father and I were certain that you would have to be resorting to using your mother's old school robes, what with being a dirt-poor Weasel and all," the boy with white-blonde hair sneered at the red haired, and currently very red faced Weasley child.

As Rose was about to respond, she was suddenly cut off when none other than Albus Potter quickly inserted himself in front of her, then placing a hand on the other boy's chest, pushed lightly while uttering strongly, "Shove off, Malfoy." He then silently crossed his arms and glared at his adversary.

Taken by such a wave of pride for his near-nephew, Neville almost forgot the fact that it was his responsibility to stop such altercations from occurring in the first place. However, upon seeing the Malfoy boy regain his stature and begin his retort, he decided it was time to put a stop to this mess. "Alright, all of you. Put a stop to it now, before you lose your future house points. And before you say anything, just because you're not in a house now, doesn't mean you won't be a short while from now. Am I understood?" The three children ducked their heads and nodded quietly.

"Now then, follow me," Neville said, as he opened the doors to the castle. Lighting his wand, he then led the students down the dark corridor, smiling to himself while thinking, 'well, at least I don't have to worry about Al's courage, now do I? And it looks like the Potter-Malfoy feud is alive and healthy.' Eventually, the group came out in the Entrance Hall, and Neville formed the students in a small group outside a large set of double doors.

"Now, when these doors open, you will all follow me to the front of the hall to be sorted into one of the four houses of Hogwarts. These houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Upon being sorted, you will then take a seat at your house table. Are their any questions?"

A timid looking girl near the front shyly raised her hand, then spoke, "H-how w-w-will w-we know w-where our h-h-house tables are?"

Trying to sound comforting, Neville responded, "Oh, that's easy, just look for the table that's cheering the loudest, and that will be the one. If you have any problem, just ask me, I'll be right there with you students the whole time. Anyone else?"

A rather tall, skinny boy near the back piped up at this point. "Is it true that we'll have to fight a dragon during the sorting? 'Cause my big brother said that's what he had to do." At this, several of the other children turned a rather alarming shade of green, and some began visibly trembling.

Unable to avoid a slight chuckle at this, Neville quickly put everyone's fears to rest. "No, no, nothing like that. All you'll have to do is wear a hat and the rest will be taken care of for you. I will call you're names alphabetically, then you will take a seat on a stool, put on the hat, and be sorted." At this, several sighs of relief could be heard.

"Any other questions? No? Then follow me," and with the, Neville flung open the doors and began leading the young students to the front of the Great Hall.

Reaching the front of the rather large room, Neville put his foremost effort into _not_ paying attention to the hundreds of eyes currently trained on him. He quickly reached for the stool, placing it in its normal spot, that placed the hat upon it, grateful for the distraction that was about to occur. Almost immediately, a familiar rip formed in the hat (which, Neville noticed, still had a few charred areas here and there, although, overall was still in decent condition) and it began to sing a new song for the year.

Following the close of the song, the all rang with applause as all eyes eventually returned to Neville, who was searching his robe pocket for the scroll containing the names of the children. Finally finding said scroll, he unrolled it and began to read off the first name.

"Ad-" his voice squeaked out, several octaves too high. More than a few chuckles could be heard echoing throughout the hall. Glancing up at the staff table, his eyes fell upon Lavender, who was smiling prettily at him. Somehow reassured, he took another, more confident stab at it.

"Addams, Jamie." The shy girl who had questioned him slowly stepped forward, as Neville removed the hat from the stool so that she could take a seat. Once she was seated, Neville placed the hat upon her head, and maybe twenty seconds later began clapping as the hat suddenly shouted out "HUFFLEPUFF!" As the Hufflepuff table erupted in cheers, the young girl looked greatly relieved to have the whole fiasco over with as she near-ran to her housemates. And so, the sorting had started.

Moving patiently through the students, Neville was once again taken to a state of nostalgia as he read off the name, "Malfoy, Scorpius."

Smirking, the young Malfoy boy mounted the stool, and just as the hat was being lowered onto his head, it near screamed, "SLYTHERIN!!" The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, welcoming their new house mate.

Soon there after, the Neville came to the first of the two names he was most looking forward to reading off. "Potter, Albus."

The great hall became suspiciously quiet as the meek young boy walked forward and mounted the chair. Patting his back reassuringly, Neville placed the hat upon his head, then waited about half a minute before the hat, rather unceremoniously, shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" After a second or two of shocked silence, the Gryffindor table suddenly erupted with cheers. Smiling shyly, Albus quickly walked over to his housemates, receiving a rather hefty slap on the back from his older brother James in the process.

So the sorting continued on, with students being separated into different houses, until Neville came upon the last name on the list. Smiling and giving a slight wink to the lone remaining student, Neville read her name. "Weasley, Rose."

With a somewhat cocky smile on her face, Rose confidently strode up to the chair, mounted it and waited patiently for the hat to be placed on her head. Smirking at her behavior, Neville lowered the hat over her ears and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally after a minute, Neville glanced up at the Headmistress, who gave him a slight shrug and a roll of her hand as if to say, "Be patient, keep waiting."

The fact that it was taking so long was only part of the problem, as the few students close enough as well as Neville himself could also see that there seemed to be some sort of verbal argument going on between the hat and its student. Whatever was going on, it looked to Neville as if Rose was extremely adamant as to her stance in this argument.

Finally, after nearly two and a half minutes, the hat suddenly huffed indignantly before muttering, and then shouting, "Fine, have it your way. GRYFFINDOR!"

Having never seen any type of action with the hat like this before, most of the students just stared at the curly red-head as she skipped pleasantly towards her table. Seeing the awkwardness of the moment, Neville began fervently clapping his hands, effectively breaking the students out of their reverie, so that once again the hall was filled with the sounds of cheers.

With the sorting officially over, Neville quickly stowed away the chair and hat, then took his place among the staff as McGonagall informed the students that she would save her start of term speech for after the pudding had been served. With that accomplished, she finally clapped her hands once, and then said, "Let's eat!" Instantly, the tables were filled with food, effecting several "oohs" and "ahhhs" from the first year students. So began the start of term feast.

* * *

Leaning back in his chair, delightfully full from the incredible meal, Neville was startled out of a somewhat sleepy trance by McGonagall, who stood from her Headmistress' chair and clapped several times to inform the hall that she was about to begin her speech.

"Students of Hogwarts, let me have your attention as I make my normal announcements. First of all, let me remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that. Forbidden, to all students. Also, I would like to note that Mr. Filch has updated his list of illegal contraband for this year, and has posted said list outside his office. Quiddich tryouts for all house teams will be this weekend, with the following schedule: Friday afternoon, Hufflepuff; Saturday Morning, Slytherin; Saturday afternoon, Gryffindor; and finally, Sunday afternoon, Ravenclaw." At this, cheers could be heard, along with a few groans from the Slytherin table, which would be the only house to have to wake early for their tryouts.

Taking a moment to ready herself, McGonagall continued on. "Now, for my final bit, I have a very special series of announcements. Firstly, it is my sad duty to inform you that I have decided to retire, and as such, this will be my last year as Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Understand that I will miss you all greatly, however, I feel it is my time." At this, several gasps were heard throughout the hall, more than a few coming from the staff table. "As such, it is my great duty to inform you all that I, as well as the school board of reviewers, have nominated current Deputy Headmistress Professor Morrissey to act as my permanent replacement." Cheers erupted from the Slytherin table, as the realized that their own head of house would be taking over the school. The rest of the hall appeared to be in a state of shock. Professor Morrissey, for her part, looked just as shocked as the rest of the students, although Neville thought he could see the beginnings of a very happy smile on her face. 'Good for her,' he thought. "Continuing on, being as the Transfiguration teaching position will be vacated by your future Headmistress, it is my pleasure to introduce the newest member of the faculty, Professor Brown." A small amount of cheering echoed through the hall as Lavender stood and took a slight bow before retaking her seat. "As a final announcement, Professor Ardent from the Arithmancy department will be taking over the vacated position as head of Slytherin house. Now, unless my memory has deserted me, I believe that is all for my special announcements. Let us conclude by singing the school song, then prefects, please lead all first years to their common rooms. Thank you for your patience."

At this, McGonagall clapped her hands, and music filtered into the school and the students began to sing along to the rhythm. Once the song was complete, Neville stood from his chair and walked over to where Lavender was seated, sticking his hand out well in advance so as to let his feelings be known as to what level of physical contact he was comfortable with. As he reached her, she took his offered hand and shook it jubilantly. "I just wanted to say, Prof- er, Lavender, congratulations and welcome to the family, so to speak."

Smiling brightly, Lavender released his hand and leaned in a little closer. "Thanks, Neville. Hey, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor." He nodded for her to continue. "Well, Professor McGonagall mentioned that you would be acting as a sort of a mentor for me until I get settled in here, so I was just wondering if you could show me to my living quarters? I'm pretty sure I remember where everything is, but it has been nineteen years. Also, I'll need the password to enter."

Nodding his head in assent, Neville spoke, "No problem, but can you just give me a second first?" After seeing her nod, Neville quickly turned and made his way to the Gryffindor table.

"Rose? Rose Weasley, could I see you for a moment please?"

Turning to see who was speaking, the young Weasley bounded over, a smile plastered on her face. "Hey Uncle Nev- um, I mean _Professor_ Longbottom." She said this last part with a wink. "Did you want to see me?"

"Er, yes, Rose, I was just wondering what happened during your sorting? You don't have to tell me, of course, it's just that I've never really seen anything quite like that before."

"Oh, it's no problem. It's just that that bloody-er, that is to say, that _darn_ hat seemed very much set on wanting to put me in a house other than Gryffindor. Can you believe it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw? I mean, no offense, but _come on_! Like I'm going anywhere other than Gryffindor, right?" As she finished, she took on a proud smile.

"Of course not," Neville laughed out, taken in completely by the charm of this little girl. 'Hmm, brains of her mother, determination and loyalty of her father, whoa. The wizarding world better watch out for this one,' Neville thought to himself. "Alright, you go get some sleep, I was just curious," he said, as he reached out and lightly ruffled her hair. Strangely though, rather than leave, the young red-head looked over Neville's shoulder.

"Excuse me, Professor Brown?" At this, Neville noticed for the first time that Lavender had indeed followed him from the staff table.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could ask you a question."

"Ask away, although you should keep it short, as your house prefect is about to leave." At this, Lavender pointed to the fifth year Gryffindor prefect.

"Oh, OK, I was just wondering if you could tell me what an air headed, blonde bint is?"

Neville's cheeks instantly lit aflame as he desperately tried to wrap his head around what he had just heard. Apparently, Lavender was having no such success, as he could hear a series of heavy huffs and puffs coming from directly behind him.

"Excuse me?" Lavender finally managed to croak out, with much difficulty.

Adopting a look of confusion at the two adults' reactions, Rose pushed on. "Well, what I mean to say is, one night I heard my Mum and Dad talking about the new Professor coming to Hogwarts, and I heard my Mum say, 'that air headed, blonde bint had better have half a brain cell in her head if she's going to be teaching our children, that's all I'm saying'. I was just wondering if you could tell me what she was talking about.

Having regained his composure, Neville was now trying desperately to hold in his laughter at the situation before him. Looking at the heavily embarrassed look on Lavender's face sobered him quickly, however, and he decided to try to diffuse this situation as softly as possible.

"Rose, that's something you'll have to ask your mother, only do me a favor and ask her when I'm around, please?" This earned him a smack on the shoulder from Lavender. "Anyways, kiddo, you better head off with your housemates, they're about to leave the hall."

Turning and giving a little squeal of shock, she quickly raced to catch up to her housemates, shouting a "Goodnight," over her shoulder as she went.

Slowly turning, awaiting the war zone, Neville was surprised to see a rather melancholy look take over Lavender's pretty features as she looked down at the floor and quietly asked, "Well, are you ready to go?"

* * *

The walk through the hallways was a quiet one, as Lavender seemed rather trapped in her thoughts. Neville was worried about her sudden change of attitude, and hoped to be able to lift her spirits a little before leaving her for the night.

Having reached the seventh floor, Neville quickly taught her how to change the password to her personal quarters, before asking, "Lavender, are you alright?"

She didn't seem as though she was going to answer for a few seconds, before she looked into his eyes and asked, "Nev, what do you think about what happened our sixth year? I mean, honestly, I can take it."

"Well, to be honest, Hermione is one of my best friends, practically like a sister to me. However, I can't figure out, and I don't know hardly any of the details mind you, why exactly she still holds such a large grudge against you, when, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't even know they liked each other when you were going out with Ron, right?"

Her face instantly adopting a huge smile, Lavender threw her arms around him in a hug before saying, "Thank you, Neville. You know, some people still give me a hard time about that whole situation? Like _I_ did something wrong, or something. I mean, I go out with a guy for half a year, and I'm supposed to be branded a harlot for the rest of my life for it?"

Not knowing exactly what to say, and feeling rather uncomfortable once again wrapped in her embrace, Neville just patted her on the back a few times, hoping that that would suffice.

Finally releasing her embrace, Lavender stood back after once again kissing his cheek, then said before turning into her quarters, "Well, I suppose I should get to unpacking my things. Thanks for the walk and the pep talk, Neville; it really is gonna be great getting to hang out with you again. Goodnight." With that, she turned on her heal and walked into her quarters, shutting the door and leaving a stunned Neville in her wake.

"She's got to stop doing that, or I don't know how I'm gonna survive _this_ year, much less any others," Neville thought to himself, while raising his hand to once again graze his cheek.

Finally regaining enough composure, Neville made his way down the steps to exit the castle and head for greenhouse four, taking extra caution to keep his hand on the railing as he did so.

* * *

A/N: Well, here it is another chapter complete. I'm not so sure what I think about this chapter yet. Once thing I do want to say, however, on the off-side chance that somebody wants to complain. I have made Lavender's personality overly sweet for a reason. Partly because, well, my version of the character is just a naturally bubbly person, which she seemed to be in Jo's books, and partly for another reason, which will be established later in this story. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and for god's sake, REVIEW. So far, I've got like, 200 hits, and only 1 review. I know this is a story about lesser characters, and I certainly wasn't expecting very much fanfare, but just 1 review? Alright, well, have fun reading, and I'll see ya on the flip side.

Hey, Sorry about the delay in posting. I meant to post this chap last night, but for some reason, wouldn't accept my Word document. Anyways, here is is (Finally).

Cheers!!


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: September 30, 2007

**CHAPTER 4**

Walking alongside the lake, feeling the crisp morning air that signaled an early end this year to summer warmth, Neville continued to play the events of the prior evening over in his head. Overall, the evening had to have been considered a success, although his nervousness had definitely shone through more during the sorting ceremony than he would have liked.

Then there was Lavender. Neville was captivated by the changes, as well as the similarities, to her personality as compared to her teenage self. She still held that self assuredness that she had displayed throughout her time at Hogwarts, yet gone seemed to be the obnoxiousness that tagged along with it for all their prior time together. 'That's so different than me,' Neville thought to himself. 'I've never been confident in my life. In fact, the only heroic, confident thing I ever did was cut the head off that blasted snake, and that was only because I thought all hope was lost anyways.' She still had a certain bubbly quality to her, a cheeriness that just seemed to drag you in without delay. Yet, at the same time, there was a certain intelligence and reserve to her actions that had not been present nineteen years ago. This made Neville come to the conclusion that, perhaps, she was such an "airhead" as Hermione so eloquently put it, by choice rather than by necessity. One thing was still the same, however; judging by Hagrid's reaction at the boat dock, she was still able to charm the pants off a priest, if the need be.

Physically, Neville was surprised to find he found her more attractive now than before. Her figure had filled out more since her student days, and her face, while still quite pretty, seemed to have less of an innocent quality and more of an entrancing, seductive look. Her smile was still radiant, but to tell the truth, in his opinion, it would have been hard to find a part of her that wasn't still radiant. 'At the very least,' he thought, 'I'd be hard pressed to find somebody that actually would believe that she's thirty-seven, that's for sure.' Indeed, life had changed this girl for sure, but Neville was quite sure that the changes were for the positive.

"Ugh, come on Longbottom, you need to get this junk out of your head. Guaranteed, she's not sitting in her room right now, pining over you, that's for certain," Neville said to the open lake before him, as he dragged his hand through his hair. As though responding in agreement, a lone tentacle stuck up from the water's surface and waved at him. Scanning the ground half heartedly, he finally turned to the tentacle and said, "Sorry boy, got nothin' for ya today. Maybe tomorrow." The giant squid responded by slapping its tentacle to the water, thoroughly splashing Neville. "Overrated octopus!" he yelled out as he cast a drying charm on his clothes.

Turning back to his current line of thinking, a small part of Neville's brain wondered, 'If she were not interested in me at all, though, how can her actions last night be explained?' Was it not she who "couldn't wait" to see him? And how many times had she kissed him? Three times? To be completely honest, he had been kissed more in that one night than he had been in the last ten years, by anybody other than Ginny and Hermione, and for the purposes of this particular line of thinking, they simply didn't count. And, finally, had she not moved incredibly close to him, with all the hugging and what-not? 'She's probably that way with everyone, though,' he thought to himself.

'Regardless of what she (I) may feel, however, I simply must put an end to this nonsense,' he thought as he stomped his foot down decidedly. Though there were no rules against such things, Neville felt the ethics of any union between two teachers at the same school were just all wrong. 'Also, even though she may be a naturally physical person, I have to put a stop to all this touchy-feely business. It simply will not do for students to see their teachers warmly embracing and carrying on so frivolously,' he thought. Judging by the lack of concern she showed for her actions in front of the first years last night, Neville thought it might be a good idea to have a talk with her about all this as soon as possible. 'Perhaps tonight, at dinner,' he thought. 'Yes, I believe that will be a perfect time.'

With his mind finally feeling cleared, Neville felt a resurgence about him, and proceeded to jog the last mile back to the greenhouses.

* * *

Upon his return, Neville spotted a familiar owl waiting on his desk. Similar in size to her owner's previous messenger, but possessing dark brown plumage rather than snowy white, the owl extended her leg and patiently waited for him to remove the note, then waited, obviously expecting to leave with a response. Looking longer at the owl before turning to the note, Neville could not help but feel happy that Harry had finally decided twelve years ago to get another owl. He had always been worried that Harry would never have an owl again after the loss of Hedwig, and he just did not think that was healthy. Scratching the fowl's head and feeding her an owl treat, he muttered, "Thanks Archie," before chuckling slightly (the name "Archie" is short for the owl's full name, Archimedes, which was given to her by James after one of the characters in one of his favorite Disney cartoons) and opening the piece of parchment that had been her burden.

_Hey Nev,_

_How's the start of the year? Hopefully Rosie and Al haven't been too much trouble yet, considering today is just the first day of classes (although I wouldn't put it past them to stir up something!)._

At this, Neville laughed openly, thinking of Rose's rather…interesting comment to Lavender last night. Quickly deciding that his mind need not wander back onto that particular lady again, he read on.

_Anyways, I just wanted to write to tell you, and please read all of this before you crumple it up and throw it at one of your plants to eat, that we hired this new medi-witch at work a couple weeks ago, and I think you and she would be just perfect together! She's smart, funny, and she has a pretty nice looking backside, if I do say so myself._

_Look, I know you will probably turn this down, but please, at least consider it? For me? I just want you to be happy, Nev, honest. And no pressure, I haven't mentioned anything about you to her yet, I figured I'd wait until I got a response from you. But don't worry, I mean come on, how can she possibly turn down a date with one of the heroes of Hogwarts, hmm?_

_Alright, Nev, please consider before you deny my suggestion. That's all I can ask. Archie will stay until you send a reply._

_With much love from me, Harry, Hermione and Ron,_

_Ginny Potter_

After taking a few moments to consider her offer, Neville took out a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled the only reply he had ever seriously considered sending back.

_Ginny,_

_As much as I appreciate your offer, I have to decline. If you're wondering why, maybe you should consider the disaster that was your last setup for me, huh? She was nineteen, Ginny, which might not have been bad accept for the fact that the date was only two months ago. For Merlin's sake, she was a student of mine here at Hogwarts for five years! I'm old enough to be her father!_

_Don't worry, I'm only kidding, I don't hold a grudge about that, although it was an uncomfortable evening, to say the least. Anyways, I'm sorry, Ginny, but you know that I simply cannot afford the time for dates during the school year. Also, I just don't really feel like being with anyone right now._

_To tell the truth, Ginny, I'm comfortable being alone. I mean, what kind of life can I offer to any perspective witch with my job? I have to live in this castle for nine and a half months out of the year, and I'm not giving up my job just to be with someone._

_Honestly, I know you don't believe me, but I'M HAPPY. I have the children here, and my studies, and my career is doing well. So, please, stop worrying about me!! I'M FINE!!_

_Yours truly,_

_Neville_

Checking over his note one last time to make sure he was not too harsh while still getting his message across, Neville smiled contentedly while tying the reply to Archie's leg and sending her off. Looking up at his clock, he was very happy that he had asked a prefect to hand out class schedules, as he saw that if he hurried he could fit in a shower and sneak down to the Great Hall for a muffin before classes start. He quickly crumpled Ginny's note and tossed it at one of his plants on his way to the shower, which deftly caught it and quickly gobbled it down its stalk.

* * *

Entering the staff section, Neville quickly found an empty seat and sat down heavily. While he had had fun getting reacquainted with his returning students in his morning classes, the long summer break had obviously thrown him off his rhythm, and he was already feeling exhausted. He would be very happy in a week or so when he was back in the swing of things.

So distracted by his tiredness was he that he did not even notice the person with whom he sat next to, although she took no time noticing him in return.

"Hey, Neville, long time, no see," Lavender said, in an exceedingly cheery voice. "Wonderful first day, isn't it? Although, since this is my first as a teacher, I'm not sure if they can be better or worse."

Perking up instantly at the sound of her voice, Neville smiled back, "Oh, hey Lavender, sounds like you had a good morning. Mine went well, just tiring. I started my lesson on Mandrake Roots with the second years this morning, which is always taxing. Luckily, there weren't any incidents."

Laughing heartily, she replied, "Well that's a relief, I'm sure. That was definitely not one of my favorite lessons back when we were at school." Only half hearing this, Neville thought to himself, 'Merlin, why does even her laugh have to be beautiful?'

Coming to his senses, he quickly replied, "Yes, well, most herbology really is some what of an acquired taste. So, did anything exciting happen for you?"

"Oh, not much, pretty boring, actually. Although, a first year Ravenclaw did manage, while trying to turn a match into a needle mind you, to somehow turn a part of his desk into a raccoon! Needless to say, after it took more than five minutes to finally catch the little rascal and change it back, the boy was so embarrassed I simply didn't have the heart to take any house points."

Chuckling at the thought of chasing a raccoon around the Transfiguration classroom, not to mention all the squealing commotion the girls must have made, Neville finally said, "Well, its good that you are being understanding with your students, but make sure not to let them take advantage of you, which, believe me, they will try to do at the soonest possible time. Like bloody vultures, they are, if they spot the least bit of weakness, they'll swoop."

"Oh, Nev, lighten up! It was just one little accident, and believe me, the boy's embarrassment was more than enough to teach him to concentrate harder," she said as she smiled at him, a smile that was telling him not to be so serious.

"Alright, just remember I warned you," he said, before returning to his lunch. While in mid scoop of his mashed potatoes, Neville looked up to notice yet another altercation between Rose and the Malfoy boy across the hall. While he couldn't tell what was being said, the high blush on her cheeks let Neville know that he apparently was _not_ being entirely friendly. 'You better learn how to snip at him right back, or he'll just work you over as bad as his father did yours,' Neville thought to himself. So lost in his thoughts was he, that he did not even notice his fork drop from his hands.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" an incredulous voice asked beside him. Turning to the source of the question, Neville saw Lavender looking curiously at some gravy stains along the left side of her robes.

Realization dawning on him, Neville quickly sputtered out, "Oh, s-sorry, Prof-er, Lavender. I guess I dropped my fork into my gravy and it must have splattered. Here, let me cast a cleaning charm."

Seeing the guilty expression on his face, Lavender adopted a mischievous grin for a second before quickly wiping it off her face and replying, "Oh, don't worry, it was _obviously_ an accident, and don't worry about the cleaning charm, these things can stain if you don't do them right, I'll take care of it after lunch."

Turning back to his food and patting himself on the back for his quickly thought escape from danger, Neville resumed his eating, taking care to pay more attention. He was just getting half way through his potatoes when suddenly his vision blacked out. Panicking at first, he quickly reached his hands up to his eyes to see what was the problem, when his fingers found themselves knuckle deep in some sort of warm, mushy substance. Scooping the substance from his eyes, he opened them to find that someone had apparently tossed a handful of mashed potatoes in his face.

Immediately his eyes began scanning the students for the culprit. So convinced was he that this was a student prank that it took several seconds for realization to finally dawn on him. Slowly turning his head, his eyes landed upon the heavily smirking form of Lavender Brown.

"Oh, sorry Nev, I just figured that, since you had soooo much gravy on your plate that you needed some more mashed potatoes to go with it." Finishing this, she peeled off into gales of laughter.

Neville was speechless. Never in his entire adult life had he seen someone act so, so…immaturely. Finally finding his voice, he spoke, "What the bloody hell did you do that for?" Seeing that she only laughed harder, he asked, "What's so funny now?"

"Hahaha, you just, haha, you should see your face. Haha, every time you talk, hahaha, you spit potatoes everywhere!" She laughed out this last bit so hard it was almost ineligible. Almost.

"Well, I never – STOP LAUGHING!!" he near screamed. Seeing his incensed behavior apparently made his situation even funnier, as she seemed barely able to keep herself in her seat. Watching her laugh at him, Neville quickly came to the realization that _taking action_ would be the only way to teach her the wrongness of her ways. 'Sometimes, one must play dirty to get their point across,' he thought.

Smirking a bit to himself, he quickly swished and flicked his wand, and a pitcher of pumpkin juice levitated itself over her head, where with another wave it promptly poured its nearly full contents on her head, thoroughly soaking her, before setting back down on the table.

Taking in her surprised expression, and paying no attention to the massive audience they were now attracting, Neville cockily said, "Oh, _ever so sorry_, you just looked so uncomfortably hot, I figured you needed something to cool you off. Was I wrong to assume such a thing?" He barely made it through the sentence before breaking down into gales of his own laughter.

Slowly using her hands to squeegee juice from her face, her expression instantly taking on major incredulity, she spat back, "Why I nev…you….YOU…YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS LONGBOTTOM!!" With that, she reached over and picked up an entire platter of what appeared to be meatloaf.

Seeing her actions, Neville quickly decided that an unarmed man was a dead one, and picked up his own platter of kidney pie.

Both staring at the other, ready to fire, they dropped their respective weapons to the floor with a loud CLANG! as a voice boomed out, "PROFESSORS!! YOU WILL CEASE AND DESIST THESE ACTIONS AT ONCE!!"

Looking out among the students, Neville groaned out loud as his eyes fell upon the heavily fuming form of Professor McGonagall. He didn't know if he had ever seen her angrier, even counting the times that Harry, Ron and Hermione had gotten into trouble. Barely able to control her anger, she spoke in the most threatening tone Neville had heard in his life, "You WILL clean yourselves up, then you WILL meet me in my office in five minutes, is that clear?" Both Professors nodded dumbly, too shocked by their current situation to say anything.

Seeing that they had understood her, she turned on the spot and quickly (well as quickly has her body would allow her, anyway) exited the great hall. All was still silent as she left, and it was at this point that Neville finally noticed that all eyes were on the two of them. ALL EYES. Even the ghosts seemed at a loss for actions. Then, out in the expanse of students, a single clapping could be heard, which built into a low applause, which built into a slight roar, which finally built into a standing ovation from the entire room. To Neville's surprise and horror, even some of the professors were joining in on the applause.

Finally, his mind came back to him, and he realized that he had taken about as much as he could take. With his face blushing to the point of being burgundy (although the potatoes were still blocking a view of this) he turned and, without a second look at his cohort in crime, quickly made his way to the teachers exit, applied several cleaning charms on himself, then made his way swiftly to the Headmistress' office.

Had he stayed to watch, he would have seen that Lavender's exit was slightly different. Once her senses came back to her, she curtseyed slightly before taking on a rather large and pride filled smile and graciously exiting the Great Hall through the student's exit. Well, as graciously as a person could while covered from head to toe in pumpkin juice.

* * *

"In all my years, I have NEVER seen such a display of immaturity, such disregard for the rules of this institution, and from PROFESSORS no less!!" McGonagall thundered at the two culprits, who were now seated in her office, feeling rather hot under the collar at the moment. "Do you not realize that you are supposed to be setting a GOOD example for the IMPRESSIONALBE minds of the students of this school? Well, do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

Seeing this as his only chance to try to divert some of the flood of trouble with which he currently found himself, Neville attempted to speak, "Prof-"

"DO.NOT.SPEAK.PROFESSOR.LONGBOTTOM!! Right now, I cannot even begin to contemplate what you could possibly say that won't make me even angrier, so just be silent!"

Watching the seething woman before him, Neville began to wonder silently if she wasn't jumping the gun a bit on thinking of her health as _declining._ From where he was sitting, she looked perfectly healthy. And perfectly imposing.

"What could you possibly have been thinking? You know what; I don't think I even want to know." Taking on a slightly softer tone, she turned to Lavender and said, "I realize you are new here, but surely you must understand, this is simply not how a professor conducts themselves when in front of students." Turning a more stony gaze upon the ducked head of Neville, she continued, "And you, Professor Longbottom, I know understand the rules of this organization."

Finally, she turned and sat her desk, retrieving a two pieces of parchment and a quill before continuing. "Let me make myself perfectly clear; such actions WILL NOT take place within the walls of this school without reprimand. Not only will official letters of reprimand be placed in each of your Hogwarts files, but, for the first time possibly in the history of this institution, I shall be deducting fifty points from Gryffindor house for the actions of a pair of _professors_. That is, fifty points _each_."

Seeing that Neville was going to protest, McGonagall quickly cut in, "I suggest you keep your thoughts at the moment to yourself, Professor, before I see fit to embarrass you more by assigning the both of you a week's detention. Do I make myself clear?" Both professors nodded their heads silently. "Good, then both of leave my office and get to your afternoon classes. Oh, and in the future, _please_ attempt to use what limited brains the both of you seem to possess before you act, will you?"

Nodding once again, the two professors quickly stood and exited the office, silently riding the spiraling staircase to the gargoyle statue.

Taking a moment to compose his thoughts before he intended to ask his fellow instructor just what in the bloody hell she was thinking, Neville turned to find the strangest of sights. Lavender was laughing. 'No, that's not quite right,' he thought, 'she's in hysterics.'

Waiting patiently for her to catch her breath, he finally asked in a somewhat monotone voice, "And what, pray-tell, could possibly be so funny?"

"Did you see the look on McGonagall's face in the Great Hall? Merlin, her eyes were the size of galleons!! For a second there, I'm pretty sure she thought she was falling off her broomstick!" At this, she once again began laughing.

Not finding his current situation anywhere in the vicinity of funny, Neville replied stonily, "Well, I don't think it was funny at all. She's right, by the way, we should be ashamed of ourselves for what we just did in front of the _entire_ student body."

Seeing his very serious expression, Lavender quickly snapped to attention, before firing off a somewhat horrible version of British military salute before saying in a mockingly strong voice, "Of course sir! You're absolutely right, Professor Neville, Sir!" At the conclusion of this, she began chuckling once again.

"Please, Lavender, this is serious. We have reputations to think about here."

"Oh, please, Nev, give me a break. Lighten up, will ya? You know what, I thought maybe it was true when I saw how nervous you were at the sorting, and now I can see that I was right. You are just too uptight for your own good. You need to loosen up, and I am making it my _personal _mission to make sure that you do."

At this, Neville snorted before replying, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm pretty sure the last thing I need to do right now is to take lessons from you in how to 'lighten up'."

"I'm tellin' ya, Nev, before this school year's over, you are gonna learn how to enjoy yourself a little, and stop being such a prude!" With that, she quickly reached up and pecked him on the cheek before whispering in his ear, "Thanks for the fun lunch!" then scurried off quickly down the hallway.

Without thinking, his eyes followed her form all the way until she turned off to the stair case. Looking at his watch, Neville realized that he was already five minutes late to his fifth year class, and quickly hurried off to the castle exit.

* * *

Limping his way towards the quiddich pitch, Neville continually cursed himself for deciding to run this morning. "You should know better, Longbottom." Finally making it to his destination, he took up a seat in the stands and focused on the first years below him.

It was currently his afternoon break between classes, and, knowing that all the first years would be taking their first flying lessons at this time, Neville decided it couldn't hurt to watch. Just as he was getting comfortable, a familiar blonde-haired girl sat down beside him.

"Fancy meeting you here."

"Can I help you with something, _Professor Brown_? Shouldn't you be teaching a class right now?" he spat out, without looking her way.

"You know, I could ask you the same thing. As for me, I don't have another class for half an hour or so, so I decided to find you and apologize if you feel I acted inappropriately. But you have to admit, it was just the eensiest, teensiest bit fun, right?" At this, she waved her thumb and forefinger in front of his face, only a hair's width separating the two.

Attempting miserably to contain his laughter, Neville finally said, "I will admit no such thing. I barely made it through my fifth years, you know. They all kept questioning me about the 'fight of the century' as some of the muggle-borns seemed to call it. I will, however, accept your apology, if you will accept mine, seeing as I was just as responsible as you are." At this, he looked at her and smiled slightly before turning his attention back to the first years.

"Apology accepted, done-and-done. Now, you mind telling me why I saw you limping down here earlier? And what are you doing watching the first years in their flying lesson?"

"Well, to answer your first question, I take a walk around the lake every morning, and this particular morning I was feeling rather…frisky, shall we say, and decided to jog the last mile or so. Well, my knees don't take too kindly to me running anymore; they haven't for the last few years. The limp is my punishment for exercising poor judgment," he said.

At this, she looked excitedly back at him and said energetically, "Wow, a walk around the lake, huh? Now I can see how you've stayed in such good shape all these years. That actually sounds like fun. You mind if I join you some time?"

Blushing slightly at her compliment, he averted her gaze before mumbling back, "Well, sure, I mean, absolutely, anybody is free to join me. I've invited a few other professors, but none took me up on my offer, so eventually I gave up."

"Well, it's set then. Now all I have to do is get my sorry self up early enough. I warn you now, though, I'm not exactly a morning person," she said, smiling warmly at him.

"I find that somehow hard to believe. Anyways, as for your second question, well, to tell you the truth, the quiddich team this year's short a chaser, and I was just thinking, well…you never know where there might be some hidden talent, right?"

Gazing down on the pitch, her eyes quickly found a certain black, messy-haired boy flying one of the old school training brooms. "Well, I can see your point." Then, smiling knowingly, she said, "Potter seems to know his way around a broom, but I don't think he has the same natural talent his father had."

Blushing at being caught in the act, so to speak, Neville replied, "Yeah, uh, well, I was just noticing that too. Hey, it never hurts to check, right? Boy, I tell you what, though, that one kid looks like he's having about as much trouble as I did." He was pointing to a rather small boy who seemed to be barely controlling his broom.

Suddenly, the broom shot almost straight up into the air, taking the screaming boy with it. About forty feet up, the boy fell off the back and began tumbling towards the ground. Fear gripped Neville as he watched the boy plummet, when, all of the sudden, a streak of red could be seen, and before he knew what was happening, the pasty skinned, crying boy was set gently on the ground after being caught on the nose of a broom.

After a moment of silence, Neville heard a low whistle beside him. Turning, he saw a rather surprised look on Lavender's face as she said, "That was _soooome_ piece of flying. Looks like this might not have been such a fruitless venture after all, eh Nev?" Neville just nodded dumbly, still trying to process what his mind had just seen.

Finally, after another few minutes, Lavender stood up, stretched, and said, "Well, I suppose I should get going. Got class in a few minutes. See ya later, Nev." She turned to leave. Once again, Neville's eyes followed her all the way to her exit from his view.

As she was about to exit the pitch, she stopped, about five meters from where Neville was currently seated and turned back. "Hey Nev? You know, I was thinking, and I think you and I should go out this Saturday, you know, on a date. What do ya say?"

Stunned, Neville was not quite believing what he had just heard. He became even more stunned, however, when he found his head nodding its assent, seemingly of its own accord.

Smiling brightly, Lavender cheerfully responded, "Excellent. Well, you take care of the plans for the evening, and I'll get the OK from McGonagall for us to leave the castle. Say, around seven?" Once again, Neville nodded, albeit in a very stunned manner. Lavender waved one last time before turning and leaving the stands.

As Neville sat down and tried to soak in all that had just taken place, his mind was swamped by two questions. First, 'How on earth did Rose Weasley catch that boy in time?' And second, 'How exactly did he manage to go from determining this morning that he was going to lessen her physicality towards him, to this afternoon accepting a date from her? All in all,' Neville concluded, 'this has been a _very_ confusing day.

* * *

A/N: Alright, alright, finally, we're starting to get into some of the good stuff!! I know, it may seem a little early in the story for them to already be going on a date, but all may not be as it seems, Mwahahahaha (rubbing my hands together conspiratorially)!!! Anyways, tell me what you think. Oh, and thanks to a tip from another reader, I have enabled Anonymous reviews, so any of you anonymous types out there now have free reign to criticize to your heart's content.

Next chapter, The Date!!

Cheers!!


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: October 4, 2007

**CHAPTER 5**

"Why have I done this to myself? Hmmm? Why in the name of Merlin could I not just find my voice when she asked me, and said no?" Neville asked. To any casual observer, he might have seemed slightly out of place, for he seemed to be holding a decent conversation with a room filled with plants.

It had been three long days since Lavender's most surprising proposal, and in each of those three days, Neville had been participating in the most complicated dance of planning for the date, whilst simultaneously planning a way _out_ of the date. On each of the three days, Neville had worked himself up to just calling the whole thing off, yet in each instance, he had also managed to talk himself back into it. Finally, Saturday had arrived, at about the same time it always does, yet for Neville, its arrival seemed to both take forever as well as be entirely too soon.

As the length of the day had worn on, a sense of nervousness slowly began to creep upon him, beginning as a slightly elevated heartbeat, and then finally spreading into the near blind panic that was currently attempting to take him over. As a last effort to calm himself, he moved to greenhouse five and wandered the path leading between his crops of Pacifying Pansies, which where similar to regular pansies accept that their scent offered a slight calming pattern to his nerves. 'The way I feel right now, though, it's gonna take a lot more than _a slight calming_ _pattern_ to keep me from climbing the walls!' he thought to himself.

Pacing in a rather agitated manner, he continued his rant. "I know what happened. It's quite simple, really, I don't know why I didn't see it before!" and as he concluded this statement he laughed out loud, although once again a casual observer most likely would have noted that his laughter seemed to lack the care-free qualities of someone actually finding their situation funny, and more like the sharp, fluttering laughter of a man losing a personal war with his own nerves. "See, what she did is, well…she tricked me! I mean, here I was, already flustered from the food throwing debacle, and she sneaks in this absurd "date" idea." As he said date, he actually formed quotation marks in the air with both hands. "Why, how could I be expected to respond properly when my own mind wasn't set to rights? And I bet she just kneeewww what she was doing, to! Well, I'm just going to have to go and have a world with Miss Tricky-pants right now, and set everything back to the way it should be."

At this point, a cloud seemed to clear from Neville's mind, as he finally seemed to be coming to grips what he was going to do. Just as he was about to exit the greenhouse, however, a rather irritating voice in the back of his mind that, truth be told, was beginning to become rather annoying, decided to say its piece on the subject. '_Miss Tricky-pants!?!_ Merlin, Longbottom, would you listen to yourself? SHE.IS.NOT.TRYING.TO.TRICK.YOU. And, besides, even if she were, what would be so bad about that? When was the last time that a woman _approached you_ wanting a date? I'll give you a clue: the number I'm thinking of starts with a "z", and ends with an "ero"! Besides, you can't cancel now, it's only…" he glanced quickly at his watch, "thirty bleedin' minutes 'til you're supposed to pick her up, man! What are you, the rudest man on the planet? Now just take a deep breath, and for Merlin's sake, shove your face right in the bloody flowers if that's what it takes, 'cause you…need…to…calm…DOWN!!'

Amazingly enough, although he would never be able to understand quite why, his most annoying inner monologue seemed to be succeeding in calming him down. "No," he said in a severely defeated tone, "that's just me accepting my own bloody demise. Well, it's a little early, but if I go now, maybe the whole humiliating experience will end early enough for me to get in some reading before I turn in to bed tonight. Besides," he said while smiling for the first time in nearly six hours, "if I leave now, I can swing by Gryffindor tower and find out how the quiddich tryouts went." With that, he took a quick look at his reflection in one of the greenhouse windows to adjust his tie, grabbed his jacket, and slid it on, picked up the bouquet of flowers he had picked down by the lake earlier, and was off to his impending doom.

* * *

Nearly forty minutes later, Lavender was beginning to get worried. Looking at her wall clock (one of the few muggle clocks in the entire castle) for maybe the twentieth time in the last fifteen minutes, she saw that it was, indeed, only thirty seconds since the last time she looked.

"He wouldn't possibly stand me up, would he? I mean, we're talking about Neville here, and he's just not that kind of bloke!" she said to the room at large, with much more conviction than she was actually feeling at the moment. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't back out, though. You probably scared him into hiding with the way you pounced on him!' a part of her mind piped up. 'The nerve you had, Brown, just coming right out and asking him on a date like that. Now he probably thinks you ask that sort of thing of blokes all the bloody time! Probably thinks you're some kind of scarlet woman!' At this, she chuckled slightly. 'Like what you're looking for from all this is so _wholesome_, right?' She quickly pushed that thought from her mind.

Glancing at the clock again, she saw that yet another twenty seconds had passed. This did nothing to make her feel better.

Just as she was contemplating how exactly she was going to go about repairing her obviously damaged reputation in Neville's eyes, she heard a knocking at the door that seemed to both uplift her and ignite her nerves on fire at the same time. 'Alright, Brown, you can do this.' Glancing in a mirror by the door, she mentally prepared herself, 'Clothes? Check. Room clean? Check. Dazzling smile? Check. Well, here goes nothing.' Giving herself the final OK, she turned and opened the door.

* * *

As the door opened to her living quarters, Neville was most decidedly unprepared for the sight before him, barely catching himself as he almost dropped her floral bouquet. "Hello," he attempted to say, horrified at the high-pitched, inaudible squeak that flowed from his mouth. Closing his eyes for a second, he took a deep breath, shoved his hand with the flowers forward, and tried again. "H-hi. You…good…look?" This last part came out as more of a question, and at yet another failed attempt at basic communication, Neville hung his now furiously blushed head in shame.

To his surprise, however, he heard a girlish giggle from the woman he was sure was about to close the door in his face, followed by an even more surprising kiss on the cheek, after which she whispered in his ear, "Thanks, I think." She then took the flowers from his hand and used that particular hand to lead him inside.

Smelling her bouquet, she smiled softly and said, "Thank you for these, they are really quite lovely. Let me find a vase and some water for them, then we can go."

Finally beginning to think he could trust his voice, Neville spit out, "Oh, those were nothing really. Just picked them from around the lake. I was gonna buy you some from the shop in Hogsmeade, but I personally have always preferred wild flowers to ones from shops. B-but, if you d-don't like them…" he began sputtering, as he feared she might have preferred something store bought.

"Are you kidding? What store could compete with a bouquet picked out by a professional, hmmm? No, Neville, I think these will do nicely."

Seeing the genuine smile on her face relaxed him slightly. "Well, I'm glad you like 'em. Oh, you don't have to worry about water, though; they're charmed to stay fresh for at least a month. A-and I can show you the charm some time to keep their freshness up, that way they can last you the whole school year."

"That would be wonderful."

Just then, she stopped, and looked at him. Then, to Neville's horror, after her visual inspection, she began laughing. Not a slight chuckle, but rather an open mouthed, hold her belly type laugh. Feeling rather embarrassed, Neville looked away from her and muttered, "Er, is everything alright?"

Seeing the error of her ways, Lavender quickly placed a hand on his arm and squeezed reassuringly. "No, no, no, Neville, everything's fine. I was just thinking of how _absolutely adorable_ you look right now!"

Neville looked down at himself, rather confused. Truth be told, he was wearing the only jacket he owned, a grey tweed number with rather large patches on the elbows that his Gran had got for him a couple years before her passing. Combine that with his black slacks, white button up shirt and burgundy bow tie, and he didn't think he looked all that special. 'If she says so, though…it must be true, right?' he thought.

Pausing until he turned his eyes to meet her own, she smiled brightly before continuing. "It's just that, well, I feel rather out-dressed. Not only that, but you look a little uncomfortable, do you mind?" Not knowing what she was about to do, Neville nodded apprehensively.

"Here, it's still fairly warm out, so why don't we just leave your jacket here, alright? Good and, I love that tie, but…it doesn't really work without the jacket, does it? Let's just…that's it…now the button…there we go!" She stood back and smiled at her work. Glancing in her mirror, Neville saw that he at least _looked_ much more relaxed. His tie had been removed, and she had opened the top button of his shirt. Truth be told, opening up the shirt did effectively calm his nerves quite a bit.

Looking at his jacket and thinking quickly, Neville took out his wand and quickly transfigured his jacket to a much more casual looking, grey suede number. Looking back at Lavender, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's warm now, but it could cool off later." Draping the jacket over his forearm, he stuck out his elbow before saying, "Shall we?"

Still smiling, she looped her arm through his and said, "Why yes, sir, I believe we shall," then guided him out the door.

After three flights of stairs and nary a world from Neville in conversation, Lavender stopped abruptly and turned to face him directly. "Neville, I hope you don't feel any pressure tonight. I mean, I know I kinda sprang this whole "date" on you and all, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I just thought, you know, that we, as a couple of old school chums I mean, could maybe go out, have a couple laughs, that sort of thing, ya know?" She hoped that she sounded sincere enough to loosen him up a bit.

What she said must have worked, because Neville's rather stiff posture relaxed and a smile graced his lips before he said back, "Y-yeah, um, yeah, that sounds great!" Then, just as he was about to continue, his confindence was shattered once again rather rudely.

"WOOOOHOOOO, Professor Longbottom, YEAH! Go get 'er, mate! Good Luck!"

Cringing slightly and then looking up the two flights of stairs separating him from this source of embarrassment, Neville barely controlled his temper as he said through gritted teeth, "Thank you for your approval, Mr. Franklin. Now, I _suggest_ you get back to the common room, it's getting rather late."

Smiling brightly and giving an extremely obvious wink, Franklin said back, "Right, late. See you on Monday, Professor!" He then turned and left the stair railing.

Turning to Lavender, rather embarrassed, he said while blushing, "Yeah, er, that's Jonathon Franklin, captain of the Gryffindor quiddich team. He's a great kid, although at times he can be rather…exuberant."

Laughing, Lavender said, "Exuberant indeed! I've got him in my class of seventh years. I don't think that boy could understand what tact was if it reached up and smacked him in the face."

Chuckling, he resumed walking down the stairs, feeling much more relaxed. While his tactics weren't necessarily the best, Mr. Franklin had acted as a rather effective ice breaker, and Neville felt much more comfortable.

Turning to look at her, for the first time, he took in her outfit, and was rather glad she had dressed him down a bit, as she was wearing a rather simple outfit of jeans, a light blue jumper, and some sort of strappy, half sandal-half shoe things. To him, though, she looked beautiful. Without thinking, Neville said the first completely honest thing that came to his mind. "You look incredible, and, wow, you smell even better."

Blushing slightly at his compliment and smiling, she shyly said back, "Thanks. Although, I was a bit surprised when your note said to dress muggle-casual. Mind finally letting me in on what the big secret? I've been dieing to know for a couple days now."

"Oh, well, I remember from school that your mother is a muggle, and Her…er, a friend of mine once told me that the traditional muggle date consists of dinner and a trip to the cinema, so I thought that would be nice, and then afterwards I thought we might head to Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream?"

Smiling brightly, Lavender said, "Oh, Neville, that was thoughtful of you! I know you're not exactly comfortable with muggle affairs, but it does sound fun! I can't wait!"

Relaxing at her obvious approval, he smiled back and said, "Alright, well, I suppose we can apparate outside the castle gates to the restaurant. It's in muggle London, but I know a park nearby that should be fairly clear this time of night. I'll just side-along you there."

Reaching the gates, Neville once again extended his elbow to her and said with an overly dramatic bow, "M'Lady, our evening awaits!" She laughed and took his arm, and seconds later, they were on their way.

* * *

Dinner had gone surprisingly well, at least in Neville's estimation. Apparently, leaving the castle had loosed his tongue, because once they got to the restaurant, the flow of conversation became much more natural. Neville quickly decided that he needed to do all he could to make her laugh; she seemed to have the single most beautiful laughter he had ever heard. Not too loud, not too soft, her laughter seemed to roll out of her, rather song-like.

Indeed, the only embarrassing thing he had managed to do during the entire affair was when he accidentally dropped his drink into his lap. While slightly embarrassed, he quickly excused himself to the loo, where he performed a quick scourgify, while silently thanking whoever was listening for the existence of magic. Once he returned to the table, the two were able to laugh the situation off.

Yes, things seemed to be looking good, and they got even better at the cinema. He had researched what was playing in a muggle newspaper before hand, and had picked what appeared to be some sort of sappy love story. Surprisingly, though it was quite girly, he had actually enjoyed the picture a great deal, although what he truly enjoyed about the experience had nothing to do with what was playing on the screen. During one of the more romantic portions of the picture, Lavender became so moved that she wrapped her arm around his, inter-twining their fingers, then lying her head on his shoulder. She stayed that way for the rest of the film. It had to be the most exhilarating forty-five minutes he had ever experienced. To say the least, Neville was very sad to see the picture come to an end.

Though it was getting a bit late, Lavender was still up for ice cream, so they made their way to Diagon Alley. As they were sitting down in the near-empty outdoor only seating area, Neville noticed her shiver slightly. Before taking his own seat, he removed the jacket he had been wearing and draped it over her shoulders. She tugged it closer before smiling at him and saying, "Thanks. It is getting a bit nippy out. But you don't have anything to wear."

"Oh, don't worry about it; this shirt is actually quite warm. Besides, what kind of gentleman would I be if I left you to be cold?"

"Well, regardless, thank you. You're chivalry is dually noted." She winked at him then chuckled a bit.

Wanting to keep the conversation going, and feeling the need to get an answer to a question that had been weighing on his mind quite a bit, he asked, "So, Lavender, do you mind if I ask you something personal?"

"Sure, ask anything you like," came her easy response.

"Well, I was just wondering about something. Well, basically, I remember reading in the Prophet shortly after we had graduated that you had gotten married to some bloke, Johannesson, I think his name was?"

The change in her was like night and day. Instantly, her face became stony, her posture withdrawn. Turning her face from his, she muttered icily, "Yes, well, we've separated."

Feeling extremely foolish for bringing it up, Neville immediately began to backtrack. "Oh, well, sorry to bring it up, I was just wondering-"

With a somewhat angry look on her face, she bit back, "Yes, well, I don't want to talk about it!"

Both ducking their heads, they sat in silence for a while, each eating ice cream, lost in their own thoughts. Just as Neville was coming to the depressing conclusion that he had royally fouled things up for the entire evening, he felt a warm pair of hands encircle his right one. Looking up, he was greeted with a warm smile as Lavender said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so harsh, it's just a…rough subject for me." Changing the subject, she continued, "You know, Neville, when I said it a couple days ago, I wasn't joking around. You really do look like you have been taking _excellent_ care of yourself. In fact, I would say you look in better shape now than when we were in school."

Blushing at her praise, Neville decided to lighten the atmosphere a bit. "Thanks, although I can't say everyone from our old school gang made it out so lucky."

Obviously intrigued, she began sliding her fingers up and down his hand, making him shiver slightly, before saying, "Continue."

"Well, I'm not saying he completely let himself go or anything, but being a stay-at-home dad didn't exactly work out all that well for our friend 'the-boy-who-lived-twice'. Indeed, about ten years ago, there started to be a lot more of good ol' Harry to go around, if you know what I mean. Ginny didn't seem to mind, but Ron was merciless with the jokes. Finally, I think he got fed up with it, 'cause he started working out with Ron in the mornings and rounded himself into shape. He's still got a bit of pudge to him, but he's better now then he was."

Watching her laugh aloud, he waited until she finished before continuing. "Oh, but it doesn't end there. Do you remember Dean Thomas?" At her nod, he continued, "Well, about five years ago, that ever so terrible affliction known as male pattern baldness started to take its grip on him. Indeed, nowadays, he's had to give up and shave himself completely bald, because if he didn't, _everything_ on top would be gone. Oh, but here's the best part! About the time he's coming to terms with having to shave, Luna – you know they got married, right - comes to him with a jar full of insects, I can't remember their names. Anyways, she tells him that these bugs will help magically re-grow all his hair. All he has to do is mash 'em all up and smear them on his scalp, right? Well, they sure didn't do that, but what they _did do_ is turn his entire scalp bright green! Not only that, but once he turned off the lights, they found out that he glowed in the dark! After waiting for three long days, he finally had to go to St Mungo's. Took them _two weeks_ to finally reverse the damages! To this day, Harry and Ron die their hair green every year when they go to his birthday party!"

As he concluded his story, Lavender was laughing so hard, she seemed to be having trouble keeping herself in her chair. No sound was even coming out of her mouth anymore, her face just seemed to be permanently frozen in an expression that looked like she was shouting at someone, and her entire body shook with mirth. Finally, after several minutes, she managed to sputter out, "Poor…Dean! Neville…you…are…so…funny!"

Feeling slightly self conscious, he ducked his head and muttered, "Yeah, well, I was just recounting the story, but thanks, anyways." He continued filling her in on all their old Gryffindor housemates, even telling her about Ron and Hermione, since she didn't seem to mind. Finally looking at his watch, he saw, with no small amount of amazement, that it was nearly 12:30 in the morning. They had been at the ice cream shop for nearly an hour and a half.

"Hey, I hate to bring an end to such a great night, but it's starting to get late. We'd better get back to the castle." With that, he rose from his seat, moved around the table and extended his hand to her.

"Why, thank you, you are _ever so thoughtful_, oh kind and gracious sir!" she over exaggerated, while forming a deep curtsey.

He chuckled lightly before wrapping his arm around her waste and, without paying it a second thought, side-along apparated the two of them outside the gates of Hogwarts.

* * *

After they arrived, he looked at her, comprehension dawning on him. "Oh, sorry, I suppose you could have done that yourself, I didn't mean to impose."

Smiling coyly, she replied, "Oh, it was no bother, really. Besides, if it means getting to be this close to you, then I definitely don't mind," and with that, she snuggled in closer to him.

Walking back to the castle, Neville couldn't believe his own great luck. All he had to do was _not_ muck up his goodbye too badly, and he was home free! 'I am so unbelievably happy I didn't screw up with the whole night when I brought up her ex-husband,' he thought to himself. The two spend the rest of the walk in a companionable silence, far different from the awkward one which they started the night with.

Finally reaching the seventh floor, Neville decided not to press his luck, and quickly reached down and pecked her lightly on the cheek before whispering, "I had a great night, one of my best in a long time. I really hope we get to do this again some time."

As he pulled back and was turning to leave, he suddenly felt a pair of hands wrap around his neck and slide into his hair, and barely heard a breathy voice whisper, "Oh, I don't think so, Professor Longbottom," before he was pulled into the most searing, mind blowing kiss he had ever participated in. After a few minutes, Neville's mind caught up to where his lips currently were, and he realized that the two professors were heavily snogging each other right out in the hallway, where anyone could see. She must have been reading his mind however, as she suddenly jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waste and breaking the kiss only long enough to turn and mutter the password to her quarters before resealing herself to his face. Cautiously, Neville carried her through the door, which closed behind him. He then pushed her up against the wall just past the door, and began pooring all the feelings he had into the kiss he was giving her.

After about five minutes, she released his hair and, while still kissing him, began unbuttoning his shirt. Beginning to feel slightly self conscious, Neville suddenly released the kiss, set her down, and pulled away slightly. "Erm, look Lavender, I don't know what you are expecting, but the truth is…I'm not exactly very…experienced." He ducked his head at the last of this, attempting to hide his blush.

Putting her hand on his chin and lifting it, she looked deep into his eyes, she whispered, "Neville, are you trying to tell me that you've never…"

Looking slightly horrified, he quickly shot back, "Oh, no, I mean, yes, well…Look, I have done…that before, but just…not that often."

She smiled at this, but warmly rather than in a patronizing manner, and said, "I have a hard time believe someone as attractive as you, and a hero to boot, has any trouble at all with witches. Why, I bet you could have your pick of any witch you want, even from the ones half your age!"

Neville would later decide that talking without thinking is _definitely_ the right way for him to go, for at that moment, for the second time that night, he managed to say just the right thing at just the right time. "But, I don't want to have any witch; I just want to have you."

Looking into her eyes, he found they had a strange gleam in them, one he had not seen before. Deciding that he should get out while he was still ahead, he said, "Well, I suppose I should get going-"

At this, she placed a finger against his lips, then began slowly trailing it down, over his chin, along his throat, across his chest, over his abdomen before finally coming to a rest on his belt. "You don't…_have_ to go yet, do you? I mean, you could…_stay_." she said, in an extremely husky voice.

He finally figured out what the gleam in her eyes was. It was the same thing he found himself feeling, pure, unadulterated passion. At the realization that this woman, this goddess standing before him, was just as hungry for him as he was for her, something in Neville snapped. Leaning in close, his lips only a hair's width from hers, he said in a rough whisper, "I have to have you tonight. Whatever else may be, tonight, _you must be mine_."

With that, he reconnected their kiss, scooping her up into his arms and guiding her to her bed, where the two would lie together, but would get very little sleep this night.

* * *

A/N: Go Neville, It's ya birthday!! Alright, my man gets some, right? Hey, we all knew he would be a bumbling fool to begin with, I mean, this is Neville we're talking about, but I think he managed to pull himself together rather well. I gotta tell you guys, the more I write this story, the more into it I become. I hope you all like this chapter, it was by far and way the hardest I've had to write so far. This chapter is so pivotal to the story, and I'm so afraid that if it's written wrong, it will turn people off. Anyways, review, and tell me what you think.

Next chapter, the ever-famous "Morning After!"

Cheers!!


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: October 11, 2007

**CHAPTER 6**

Neville raised his hand to shield his eyes from the brightness of the sun. 'It's so bright today, yet, it doesn't feel hot at all. What a perfect afternoon," he thought. He had to use his right hand to perform this particular chore, as his left was currently occupied with the task of holding the hand connected to the slender arm on one Ms. Lavender Brown.

Looking over at her, he saw that she was also looking his way, and their eyes met. They continued to lock gazes for a few seconds as they meandered through the open meadow, before both looked away quickly at the same time, each blushing slightly.

"It really is beautiful out here, thanks again for inviting me," she said in a somewhat dreamy tone as she surveyed the landscape.

Indeed, it was rather beautiful Neville noticed. Looking beyond Lavender to his left, he could see a gentle downward slope that led to a rather large, pristine lake about 200 meters away. In the fast distance on the far side of the lake, he could just make out the razor sharp, snow capped peaks of a rather ominous looking mountain range. 'Such a contrast to the peace and beauty over here," he pondered silently. Everywhere else he looked was more open grasslands, which eventually led to the forest which surrounded them.

Seeing a lone tree in the field, Lavender let go of Neville's hand and pointed, "Hey, why don't we settle in over their? That way, we have some shade." Looking in his direction, she saw his nod of approval.

Smirking slightly then quickly wiping the tell-tale sign of mischief off his face, he turned his eyes in her direction before casually saying, "Race ya?"

Hearing the challenge in his voice, she smiled brightly before accepting. "Alright, on the count of three. Ready? 1…2…" and before saying anything more, she shoved him hard, throwing off his balance before sprinting off towards the tree, roughly fifty meters away.

"Hey, you cheat!" he shouted before taking off, definitely too far behind to have any chance to catch up. As he reached the tree, he saw that she had stopped and was beginning to turn in his direction, no doubt to rub in the salt of her victory. Quickly seizing her lack of awareness, he reached in and scooped her up off her feet, cradling her to her chest.

"You just think you're so clever, huh?" he said, huffing slightly from his sprint.

Her face aglow, she smiled brightly before responding, "Well, I'm smart enough to whip you! Although, come to think of it, I don't know if I should be very proud of that…"

"Hey! You better watch it, or I know a certain blonde who's gonna become _much more_ familiar with the lake. And judging by the look of it, I'd say it looks really, _really cold_!" He turned and acted as though he was about to hike down to the lake.

Squealing slightly, she finally took on a mock stern look before scolding, "Neville Longbottom, you will do no such thing! Besides, if I get wet," she said as she patted her robe pocket, "so does our lunch."

Seeing that she had him somewhat cornered, for he was rather famished, he carefully set her down before casually placing a kiss on her cheek. "Awwww, come on, you know I was jokin'." At this, he gave her his best version of puppy eyes.

"Stop looking cute, you!" she said as she playfully swatted his arm. "Now, lay out the blanket and I'll set out the food."

Taking a small swatch of cloth from his pocket, Neville flicked his wand and muttered, "Engorgio," and watched as the 20 centimeter cloth quickly expanded into a full size quilt. He spread it across the grass, then smoothed it down as Lavender enlarged the picnic basket and began setting out the food.

Gazing over the veritable feast before him, Neville thought, 'I'm really gonna have to thank Blinky when I get back, those house elves have outdone themselves.'

"There's no way we are gonna be able to finish all this!" he heard Lavender exclaim surprisedly. "Look at all this food!"

Chuckling lightly, Neville retorted, "Yeah, maybe next time we should just tell them we need food for a picnic for _one_ person." Taking a seat on the blanket, he then said, "I am hungry enough, though, that I'm willin' to try my damndest to make a dent!"

So they began to eat their meal, talking about everything and nothing at the same time, as new couples are prone to do. After about half an hour, though, Lavender went silent as she seemed to be contemplating something. Finally seeming to have gained enough courage, she timidly said, "Uh, Neville? I was wondering if we could talk about what happened last weekend."

Not sure how to continue, he finally muttered, "Uh…Sure."

"Well, it's just that…I just wanted to say that…" but she never got any further, as her eyes suddenly averted his and looked beyond him. "Neville!" she whispered. "Look!"

Turning over, Neville saw a large, no, make that _very large_ brown bear about ten meters from where they were sitting. "Uh…Uh…Uh…" was all he could stutter out.

"Awww isn't he cute?" she asked in far too sappy of a voice.

'Yeah, and he'll be much cuter all the way over their,' he thought. No sooner than he had crossed his mind, however, than the bear began to work his way in their direction.

"Crap!" he whispered. "He must smell the food. Quick, lets-"

His words were cut off, though, as he saw a chicken leg go flying over his shoulder at the animal, landing at its feet.

Not quite being able to contemplate fully the stupidity of what had just happened, Neville turned over and locked eyes with his date. "What.the.hell.are.you.doing!?!?"

Looking slightly quilty, she sheepishly responded, "Well, you said he was hungry, I just figured we had enough to share. Besides, what harm could it do?"

Giving her the most incredulous of incredulous looks, he turned back in time to see that the bear had finished off the chicken, and had closed the gap between them by half. "I'm gonna avert it's attention, you make a run for it!" With that, he grabbed his wand and stood, edging closer to the ferocious looking beast.

Just as he was about to attempt a stunner, the bear reared back on its hind legs, only two meters separating the two. 'Merlin, it's got to be three meters tall, maybe a bit more,' he thought to himself. Then it opened its mouth, and Neville, who was expecting a ferocious roar, was understandably surprised when it called out his name, in a somewhat feminine sounding voice. "Neville," it said.

'Hm. Must be a female,' he thought. "Wait a minute…you can talk?" he asked questioningly, still somewhat wary.

"Neville!" was its only response, although this time sounding more urgent.

"Erm…what?" was all he could think to ask.

Looking down at the rather small human, the bear said, "Neville! It's time to get up!" then suddenly lunged at the stunned man. Neville knew he was a goner…

* * *

As she gripped his shoulders and began to shake him, Neville suddenly sat up and looked in her eyes, shouting, "Merlin, don't feed the bear!"

Not quite understanding where that came from, Lavender looked back and said, "Uh…OK…I'll make sure not to, then."

His senses quickly coming back to him, Neville soon remembered where he was, and what had happened last night. Looking down, he could see that he was still quite naked, and that he only had a sheet covering him from the waist down. Feeling rather subconscious, he quickly grabbed the sheet and pulled it up to his shoulders before saying, "Uh…sorry about that. Weird dream. What time is it?"

"Oh, it's about 6:30 in the morning. I know it's still early, but I figured you should probably head back down to your own quarters before the students start getting up."

Nodding his head in response, he said, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Erm, can you give me a second?"

Looking confused for a second, she finally glanced downward and registered the fact that he was still quite naked. "Oh…absolutely!" then turned around quickly. Though they had seen plenty of each other the previous night, this morning the whole affair seemed somewhat…alien.

"Well, I've found everything, but…umm…have you seen my underpants?"

Jumping slightly at the mention of the unmentionable, she replied, "Oh, uh, I think their…under the covers somewhere."

She heard a rustling noise for a few seconds followed by a rather triumphant sounding, "Found 'em!"

Two minutes of silence later, she finally heard him say, "Well, I'm dressed now."

Turning awkwardly, and wishing that he was still dressing so that she wouldn't have to face him, she glued her eyes to the floor and muttered, "Oh, that's good then. Well, I suppose you should be on your way, then."

Feeling the need to lighten some of the tension in the room, Neville moved forward and lifted her chin so that he could see her eyes. "Listen, I don't know what last night was, but we had fun, right?" He then began leaning in for a kiss.

Just as he had closed his eyes, he felt a hand, rather than her mouth, meet his lips. "Uh…yeah, we did have fun. Look, Neville, Last night was fun, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to give you any false ideas about what's going on here. I'm…not looking for any kind of commitment now, not ever in fact. Last night…well, I think it had more to do with loneliness, don't you think? Anyways, I think maybe…well…it shouldn't happen again. I'm sorry."

Backing away quickly, Neville's mind quickly moved into self-preservation mode. "No, no. No reason to apologize. You're right, of course, last night was a mistake. Just a moment of weakness. I mean, for Merlin's sake, we're both teachers? What were we thinking, right?" He was now quickly making his way for the door.

Desperate to salvage their friendship at least, she sputtered out, "No! I mean, I don't think it was a mistake…"

"That's alright, Lavender, no need to explain. I understand you completely," and with that, he was out the door.

Walking quickly down the stairs, Neville absentmindedly decided to go down to the kitchens to get a bite to eat, rather than have to chance facing her in the Great Hall for breakfast. The entire way, he kept muttering to himself, "How could you have done something so stupid, stupid, STUPID!!"

* * *

The following Tuesday found Neville returning from his walk around the lake feeling rather refreshed. Over the past two days, he had successfully managed to avoid Lavender on all but two occasions, each a meal time, and on both occasions neither did the slightest to acknowledge the other's presence. Though he knew it might eventually become…difficult, for now it was bliss compared to actually having to face up to their current situation. Entering his living quarters, Neville was somewhat surprised to see not one, but three letters awaiting him on his desk. Grabbing a towel from his drawer, Neville picked up the first letter and opened it, seeing that it was from Ron.

_Neville,_

_My man, you are my hero! I mean, of course I knew she had the natural talent to excel in the game, but to be named to the house team as a first year!?!? Well, all I can say is that I'm thankful you have a natural eye for talent, and the willingness to do the right thing! _

_Merlin, I still can't believe it, though. I mean, I naturally assumed that she'd make it as a second year (although, truth be told, I was hoping she'd turn out as a keeper!), but as a first year? Now she'll have even more experience to show the talent scouts on the professional teams after she graduates! This is great!_

_Wow, my Rosie, soon to be a professional quiddich player. And it's all thanks to you, buddy. Don't you think I'm gonna forget this. I owe you one, and that's for sure!_

_Later,_

_Ron_

Chuckling at his friend's enthusiasm, Neville set Ron's letter down and picked up the next one, breaking the seal and reading it.

_Dear Neville,_

_I've only got one question for you: What the bloody hell were you thinking!?!?_

_Sorry for the language, but honestly Neville, do you know what you've done to me? Ever since Rose wrote to tell us that she'd been selected for the quiddich team, it's been all I hear about, morning noon and night. I told Ginny and Harry about it so that they could help me to calm him down. Well, that was about the stupidest thing I've ever done, because now ALL THREE OF THEM are hounding me about that stupid, bloody sport. It's enough to drive me insane!_

_Another thing, Nev, do you really think that starting her so early is such a great idea? I mean, I WILL NOT accept this…game coming between Rose and her studies, no matter how excited Ron is. So you make sure and tell me if she starts to slip up._

_Ughh. Do you know I caught the three of them writing a letter to the general manager of the Holyhead Harpies yesterday? They were trying to get a scout to come see the quiddich 'prodigy'. I had to take the letter away and threaten their lives to keep them from writing another! I mean, honestly, she's eleven years old, Neville. ELEVEN!! Now I'm just waiting for him to start in on Hugo…THANK FOR EVERYTHING, OLD FRIEND!_

_Oh, in other news, you'll be happy to know that the baby's coming along nicely, and I am feeling much better about this whole situation, in fact, I feel rather excited now! I can tell this is going to be a good one, because I have hardly had any morning sickness whatsoever. See? He/she's already taking it easy on Mummy!_

_Well, that's about it, I guess. Just want to say thanks for the headache you've caused one more time. Oh, and you should come over for dinner again sometime in the next couple weeks. It'll be fun, and maybe you can talk some sense into my thickheaded husband!_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

This time, Neville not only chuckled, he outright laughed at the plight of his friend, shaking his head from side to side. Once he was able to recover himself, he picked up the final letter and, seeing that it was not sealed, merely unfolded it and read.

_Professor,_

_Hey, it's me, Hagrid. Just thought you'd like to stop by on Saturday for a spot of tea and maybe a little conversation. I was thinking about one o'clock in the afternoon. Write me a note and leave it in the Professor's lounge, telling me if you can or not._

_Hagrid_

Still chuckling from Hermione's letter, Neville sat at his desk to write out three quick replies. 'I guess Ron and Hermione will _never_ stop arguing, even when their old and grey,' he thought. 'At least they have someone to grow old and grey with,' another part of his mind countered. Choosing to ignore this last statement, he began to write.

* * *

"So, Hagrid, how've lessons been so far?" Neville asked as he leaned in to take a sip from his oversized tea cup.

"Oh, fine, fine. No trouble makers, a'though I'm sure tha'll change in a couple o' years when that Malfoy boy star's class. I seen 'im in the hall a couple o' times, an' he looks like trouble ta me!"

Nodding his head in the affirmative, Neville responded, "Yup. Spittin' image of his father, that one. Pays no attention in class, and has no respect whatsoever for the plants. He'll be fine as a first year, but I'm gonna have to watch him carefully from second year on, or he's liable to lose and arm, if not worse."

"I 'ear ya there, Neville. So how've things been for you? I seem ta remember you and a certain somebody bein' awful close on the docks before the feast a couple weeks ago," Hagrid said, attempting to wink slyly, though his beard covered too much of his eyes for the point to have gotten across.

"Oh, yeah, well, we haven't had much of a chance to see each other since she started. Beginning of term, you know lots of work and all," Neville replied as he ducked his head and began staring at the table.

Not picking up on his friend's discomfort, Hagrid barreled on. "Really? One o' me students tol' me the two o' you left the castle just last week."

Trying to put an end to the conversation, Neville responded in what he hoped was a carefree tone, "Oh, that. Well, we just went for a bit of a walk is all. Talked about teaching methods. McGonagall assigned me to mentor her, you know."

"Yeah, I heard about tha'. 'Sa shame the two o' you aren' seein' more o' each other. I thought you made a good pair, me self."

"Well, I don't really feel like talking about it right now, if it's all the same to you, Hagrid," Neville bit back, more bitterly than he had intended.

Finally taking notice of his of his friend's tone, Hagrid quickly changed subject. "Oh, righ' well, congratulations on yer new chaser! Tha' Rosie, she's a little spit fire, she is! Reminds me o' her Aunt, tell tha truth. Why, I remember…"

Hagrid continued on with his stories for another hour, though Neville barely heard a word of them. No, his mood had unfortunately taken a turn for the worse.

* * *

Making the walk back across the grounds to the greenhouses, Neville remained in the funk that had latched on to him in Hagrid's cabin. Reaching his quarters, he threw shut his door, making it slam loudly. Feeling so miserable was he, that he barely noticed the letter waiting for him on his desk.

Picking up the letter, his saw his name written across the front in a script he did not recognize. Opening the seal, his face took on a look of surprise as he read it.

_Hey Neville,_

_Sorry the last couple days have been a little…awkward. I was hoping you could stop by my quarters tonight, say about…ten o'clock? I thought maybe we could chat for a bit, plus I have something you might want._

_Well, no need to write back, I'll just see you if you happen to stop by._

_Lavender_

Re-reading the short note, Neville felt slightly confused. 'She bloody shoos me away at the crack of dawn, avoids me all week, and _now_ she wants to have a friendly chat? What's with this bird?' he questioned himself. 'Well, I suppose I'll show up, but she better not be expecting me to just roll over and act like some puppy dog.'

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

"Just a minute," came the feminine voice from behind the door. After a few seconds, the door swung open and Neville was greeted with a breathtaking smile that almost shattered his confidence. Almost.

"Oh, hi Neville. Come in, come in," she said as she flagged him into her quarters with her hand.

Walking in and maintaining his rigid stance, Neville decided that he should let her know his feelings on this meeting sooner, rather than later. "You said you had something for me?" he questioned in the sternest tone he could manage.

Her smile faltered momentarily at that before she quickly regained her composure. "Yes, certainly. You left your jacket here, you silly goof!"

As she was talking, Neville noticed that she seemed to be overexerting herself in attempting to make some sort of peace. Deciding to soften just a bit, he reached for the offered article of clothing and said, "Thanks. I hadn't even noticed it was missing, to tell the truth. It's not very often that I get the chance to wear a muggle jacket around here."

Seeming to relax a bit at his easier tone, she pointed at her sofa and asked, "Care to have a seat?"

As the two sat, a silence fell that seemed to encompass their very beings. It was clear that each had things they wanted to say, yet neither seemed very willing to start.

Starting to become impatient, Neville reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing. "Look, Lavender, I have some things I need to take care of, so if there's nothing else…"

"No! I mean, don't leave," she said, then seemed to take on a look of determination before continuing. "Neville, I wanted…well, I wanted to say I'm sorry. Last Sunday morning, well, I said some things that I didn't necessarily mean. I came off sounding harsh, and for that I'm sorry. I hope you don't think that I was trying to shove you out the door because I didn't like it, 'cause I really, _really_ did." As she finished, Neville noticed that she put her hand on his knee. Though he did not want to, his body scooted closer to hers on the sofa, seemingly of its own accord.

Continuing, she said, "Look, I don't want to get into it, but…for personal reasons, I just don't want to become involved romantically. But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends, right? I mean, I like having…friends…" As she finished, her hand that was not resting on his knee rose and began absentmindedly playing with the fringe of his hair.

Leaning into her caresses, Neville closed his eyes as he replied, "Y-yeah, friends is g-good." Opening his eyes, he reached his own hand up, caressing her cheek.

"Neville," she said, her voice now having a far off, dreamy quality to it. "I don't think this is such a good idea…" but even as she was saying it, she moved closer to him, now raising her jean clad legs and placing them across his lap. His eyes locked with hers, and instantly, the two became lost.

"Yeah," he muttered, "terrible idea…" and his lips crashed into hers. For the second Saturday in a row, the two professors with absolutely no interest in a romantic relationship succumbed to their passion for one another.

* * *

A/N: Well, there you have it! Did you like that dream bit at the beginning? It was inspired a bit by a movie I saw once called Bandits, with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. In the movie, there's a scene where all the characters are asleep, then a noise startles Billy Bob awake, and for no discernable reason, he shouts, "Beavers and Ducks!" If you've seen it, I'm sure you agree with me that it was one of the funniest things you've ever seen. Anyways, I'm not sure when the next chap will be coming, as I'm currently in the process of moving. Hopefully early next week, as I should have the internet hooked back up by then. Until we meet again…

Cheers!!


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I am not profiting from this story in any way, and only the plot is mine in the first place.

POST DATE: October 21, 2007

**CHAPTER 7**

The next few weeks seemed to blend together as the weather slowly made its seasonal change from Summer to Fall. This was actually Neville's favorite time of the year at Hogwarts, as he got to witness the many colorful shades adopted by the once green foliage around the grounds. His morning walks could almost always be counted upon to take double their usual time, as he would often stop to admire the beautiful sights around the lake.

As Halloween loomed near, a steady buzz of excitement could be felt building throughout the castle. As luck would have it, this year October 31st just happened to fall on a Friday, and the opening of the new quiddich season would be the following Saturday, with the very heated rivalry game between Gryffindor and Slytherin set to start the season out on a very strong note. Indeed, though the four houses got along much better with each other since the days of Voldemort (Well, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seemed to tolerate Slytherin better, anyway), a strong dislike continued to remain between Hogwarts two most decorated quiddich teams.

Since so many festivities were taking place in the same weekend, Lavender had come up with the idea that the weekend should be made somewhat of a special occasion. Agreeing whole-heartedly, Headmistress McGonagall announced to the entire student body the week before Halloween that, much to everyone's delight, not only would classes end after just half a day on Friday, but that the normal weekend curfew would be extended by three hours for all fourth year students and above on Saturday, so that they may attend a party in the Great Hall, honoring whoever should come out the victor of the day's match. This announcement had, of course, only managed to raise the level of excitement amongst the students to a near fever pitch while also exasperating all the teachers, who were barely able to keep order in their classrooms. The only professor who seemed to be handling the whole situation well was Lavender. In all actuality, she was getting just as excited as the students.

As for the aforementioned professor, she and Neville fell into somewhat of a routine after their second encounter in her quarters. Every Saturday (as well as three or four other days of the week, in all honesty), the two would meet to…discuss Lavender's teaching methods, well, as far as the rest of the school was concerned. What the rest of the school did not know, however, is that very little was actually being_ discussed_ during these meetings.

After their first few interludes, they had made the rather wise decision to move their_ meeting place _to Neville's quarters, as Lavender's were within the castle walls, and she could be rather…_boisterous_ when she was excited. She remained very adamant that their activities stay very casual, with absolutely no commitments for either of them, and that nobody else was to know what was going on. 'That's bloody perfect, as far as I'm concerned,' thought Neville one morning, as he awoke with Lavender snuggled up to his side, her head using his shoulder as a pillow. 'I've never really thought much about sex, but what we're doing could become bloody well addicting.'

Deciding that they should get up, he leaned forward slightly and planted a kiss on her forehead before whispering to her in a singsong voice, "LAAAAAvenderrrrrrr, time to get UUUUUuuuuup!"

Rather than open her eyes, she chose instead to growl quietly, then burrow her head further into his shoulder before mumbling out, "No up, more sleep."

Her somewhat incoherent reaction cause Neville to rumble with laughter, successfully jostling her awake. Seeing her somewhat unhappy expression, he cheerfully chimed in, "I'm sure your mum has heard that line a few times before."

Taking on a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she stretched cat-like, yawned, then said, "Yes, well, maybe she has, but I can bloody well guarantee there was never a man lying next to me when _she_ said it." Feeling a sense of accomplishment at his slight blush, she quickly rolled over, snuggling her back to him, and grabbed his arm, quickly wrapping herself up.

Once again, Neville laughed at her comical attempt at distracting him from getting up. Turning her over, he leaned in, kissed her on the lips gently, then pulled back and got out of bed, just as she was reaching to embrace him and said, "I figure if we're going to get in a walk and still make it to breakfast, we'd better get movin'."

He heard her mumble, "Tease," before she rolled over to face him. "Alright, alright, I'm gettin' up. Why don't you go tell your bloody plants you love 'em for the day, while I get dressed."

"It's so refreshing to wake up to such…ladylike behavior and language, first thing in the morning," he joked, then ducked to the left to avoid the pillow that came whistling his direction.

"I'll show you_ ladylike_, Longbottom! You know, you morning people should all just be rounded up and shot or something."

Chuckling at her antics, Neville made his way into greenhouse four, where he performed his normal morning duties. After finishing up, he returned to his quarters, finding his muggle sweatsuit and trainers laid out on his already-made bed. "Bless you, woman, you're a sweetheart, you are," he said, as he got dressed.

"Yes, well, don't get used to it. I just figured I owed you, what with what you did last night and all." Blushing slightly and looking at the ground, her voice became softer as she said, "Oh, and that thing you did with the headboard? As far as I'm concerned, you can do that whenever you want."

Smiling to himself while silently thanking Seamus and his rather large collection of naughty magazines during their school years, Neville grinned confidently while singing out, "Oh, liked that, did you? Well," at this point, he casually began inspecting his fingernails, "I don't know if I should do _that_ too often. Wouldn't want you getting spoiled or anything."

Hearing Neville's cockiness, Lavender looked affronted for a second, before quickly lunging at him with both hands, tickling him wildly until he collapsed to the bed, tears streaming from his eyes. While still tickling him, she said, "Look here, Longbottom. Don't go getting a big head on me! I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, for your information, and I can guarantee you that you _do not_ want to make me decide _not_ to use them."

After she stopped her tickling barrage, Neville raised his hands in mock surrender, while catching his breath. Lying on his bed, with this beautiful creature straddling his waist, a look of superiority plastered across her face, Neville was tempted to say "screw it" to his walk, and have a bit of a lie-in for the morning. Considering that this was still a school day, even if lessons were only going for half their normal times, he thought better of it. Students could be very perceptive when they wanted to be, and if anyone saw her exiting his greenhouse first thing in the morning, _everyone_ would know she was there by lunch.

"I surrender!" he said playfully. When she finally got up, he stood as well. "Come on, the sun will be up soon, and I don't wanna miss the sunrise over the lake. It's a clear morning, so it should be a really good one."

Shaking her head and smiling, she slapped him on the arm playfully and said, "Like I said, you morning people should be rounded up and shot. I think I've seen more sunrises in the last few weeks than I had previously in my entire life! I used to be very content just dreaming about them, just so you know."

Shaking his head at her cheek, Neville opened the door and held it for her, following her out through the greenhouse and into the crisp morning air. Taking in a deep breath and releasing it, he smiled and said, "See? You should consider what I'm doing for you as a gift. I ask you, how wonderful do you feel right now?"

"I'm bloody cold," she responded, once again slapping his arm as he laughed out loud at her discomfort. Feeling the need to turn the tables a bit, a smirk crossed her face as she said, "Speaking of doing nice things for each other, I almost forgot to tell you. You remember the party tomorrow night?"

Neville nodded before saying, "How could I not? My students talk more about that in class then they do the bloody plants. I think I've docked each house something like fifty points in the last week, and I'm one of the more lenient professors when it comes to taking points, mind you."

Smiling to herself, Lavender continued, "Yes, they do seem excited, don't they? And why not, I say. In my opinion, this sort of thing was all too lacking during our time as students. It's good for the kids to have something to look forward to, ya know?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree with you, I've always felt the school should have more in the way of student oriented activities. It's just that…all this excitement can become…tiring, after a while."

Smiling brightly, she took up her best baby voice and said, "Awww, poow widdle Nevnev. Is my widdle man getting tiwed?"

Shoving her playfully, he responded, "Shut up, you."

"Such manners, my-oh-my. How lucky I consider myself to spend so much time in the presence of _such_ a gentleman!" At this statement, they both laughed heartily.

After the laughter died down, Lavender said, "Anyway, back to the original subject. Since you've given me such a wonderful gift by letting my freeze my bollocks off when I should be sleeping peacefully, I just thought you should know, I've returned the favor. I took the liberty of signing the both of us up for chaperone duty tomorrow night."

The smile immediately left Neville's face, as he stopped walking and turned to face her. "What do you mean, 'signed the both of us up'? I don't recall ever mentioning that I _wanted_ to baby sit 160 or so horny kids who are going to be looking for every possible means to sneak off and perform inappropriate acts on one-another. In fact, I distinctly remember telling you how happy I was that McGonagall had not asked me to do it."

"Oh, come on, Neville. You know it will be fun! It's gonna be a party, and," here she gave him her most convincing smile, "no doubt it will be a party in honor of your own house. Why, you'll practically have a responsibility to be there, celebrating with your fellow Gryffindors." Seeing that he was still not convinced, her smile turned predatory as she finished in a breathy voice, "Also, I thought that…well, I know for me, a good party always gets me in the mood…"

Seeing plainly where her innuendo was leading, Neville cleared his throat a few times and began walking again, hoping to hide his blush. Finally, he said, "Oh, well, I suppose it will be fun and all. Yeah, you're right, more likely than not, the party will be for my kids, and I guess it would be rather tactless of me not to make an appearance."

Smirking to herself at her little victory, she said, "Well then, it's finished. The party will start at seven, and we have to be there half an hour early to make sure the house elves have everything in order."

The rest of the walk around the lake was spent organizing strategies on how to keep the students at the party present, accounted for, and most importantly,_ fully clothed_.

* * *

The Halloween feast turned out to be rather mundane, as most students were far more interested in the next night's activities. 'Halloween never seems as exciting as it was when Harry was here,' Neville thought to himself, as he began undressing for the night. "Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing," he said to the room. 

"What's not such a bad thing?" purred a feminine, seductive voice from his open doorway. Turning, he saw what appeared to be a very turned on Lavender leaning against his door jam. Smirking slightly, he said, "I thought you didn't want to come down tonight, huh?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly.

"Well, I wasn't," she said, as she walked up to him, fingering the hem of his undershirt. "But, when I got to my room, it just felt so…lonely. I can go back, though, if you want me to…" she let her voice trail off as she spoke.

Wrapping his arms around her, he tackled her to the bed, and then looked deep into her eyes and said, "You'll do no such thing! No, no, now that you've gone and wandered into the lion's den, I suppose you'll just have to suffer the consequences."

Running her nails along his back, she whispered in his ear seductively, "Poor, poor me, whatever will I do now?" These were the last words spoken by either professor that night.

* * *

The next morning found Neville and Lavender much in the same position they were in the day before, though this time, sunlight filled the room, as the two had decided to sleep in, what with the late night they were sure to have and all. This time, it was Lavender who awoke first, though she was perfectly content with lying in Neville's warm embrace. For her, getting out of bed meant officially starting the day, and on a Saturday, this should be done at the latest possible hour. 

Becoming slightly bored, she took to lightly tracing the lines of Neville's exposed palm. So intent in this activity was she that she nearly flew out of the bed when a low voice rumbled into her ear, "Having fun?"

Seeing her startled reaction, Neville laughed boisterously, earning a somewhat murderous glare from his blonde bedmate.

"You know, you really shouldn't do that to a person. I could have had a heart attack!" she mock ranted.

"Oh, come on, take it easy, I was just funnin' ya," he said. Glancing at the clock, he looked back to her, lifting himself up on one elbow. "Hey, it's almost eight. We gotta get up if we're gonna get some breakfast. They're serving early today, what with the match and all."

Mumbling something under her breath about "No good, heart attack-causing prats," Lavender exited the bed then began the awkward process of trying to fend off the cold while also looking for her clothes. Finding her bra and knickers, she put them on while saying, "You know, it really does get bloody cold in here. If it gets much worse than this, you may just be spending your nights this winter alone."

Neville laughed heartily at this. In fact, he laughed so loudly that neither occupant of the room heard a knocking coming from the entrance to the greenhouse.

"Just where exactly did you toss my jumper, if you don't mind?" she asked, looking rather fed up at her fruitless clothes hunting expedition, her hands on her hips.

Sliding on his own boxer shorts, Neville began to respond, "I don't know, I was sorta occupied at the…" but he never finished that sentence, as, to his horror, a voice rang out from the other side of the door to his quarters, "You'd better be decent, Longbottom, 'cause I'm comin' in!" Not a second later, the door was thrown open and none other than Ron Weasley stormed in, a large box held under his right arm.

If he had planned on saying anything else, Ron never got around to it, as he eyes immediately fixed on the slender blonde wearing only her undergarments, who in turn was staring right back at him. Finally, after a couple seconds of silence, Ron whispered, "Lavender?" Both she and Neville remained motionless.

The thought occurred to Neville that this situation could not possibly get any worse. That thought was quickly wiped away, however, as a very familiar voice was heard behind his tall red-headed friend.

"Ronald! I thought I told you not to just go barg…ing…in?" Stammering out the last two words, it seemed to take her mind a short while to soak in exactly what she was seeing. Finally, her eyes changed from being wide open with surprise to nearly closed into slits, as her stance and posture also changed to that of a person who was entirely unhappy. Looking at her husband, she growled out through gritted teeth, "Ronald, if you wish to remain a man for the rest of your life, you will turn around and face the wall this instant." Though her volume was quiet, her tone was the scariest thing Neville had ever heard, and Ron must have thought the same thing, for when she finished, he turned around so quickly he nearly fell over, and then moved to a corner of the room.

Looking back to the still motionless Lavender, Hermione took on a smile that was anything but pleasant and said, "Why, Lavender, _old friend_, fancy seeing you…here."

Being addressed seemed to awaken something in Lavender, and she went from motionless to moving at super-speed in no time flat. Seeing her jeans, she quickly threw them on, then gave up trying to find her jumper, grabbed one of Neville's from his closet, picked up her shoes and ran for the door. As she passed, she threw out a, "Nice to see you Ron, Hermione," and then was gone. All this happened in the span of ten seconds.

Immediately turning her icy glare to Neville, Hermione asked in a mock polite tone, "Why, Neville darling, would you mind explaining what that was all about? Because, to my untrained eye," and she paused for a moment, chuckling sarcastically, "it looked an awful lot like you had just got done BLOODY SHAGGING LAVENDER BROWN!!!"

Her yelling seemed to finally awaken Neville from his temporary paralysis, and he noticed for the first time that he wasn't wearing anything other than his underpants. Quickly grabbing a sheet off the bed and wrapping himself in it, he tried to think of the best way to answer her question. "Well, you see, it's a little bit complicated…"

Obviously, that _was not_ what she had wanted to hear, as she cut him off. "Well, it didn't look very 'complicated' to me!"

Standing still for a few seconds, she was obviously searching for what she was going to say next when a feeble voice was heard from the corner. "Uhhh, can I turn around now?"

Looking at her husband, then back to Neville, then at her husband again, Hermione finally threw her hands up in the air and shouted a very disgusted sounding, "MEN!" before turning on the spot and storming from the room. A couple seconds later, she shouted back, "I'll be waiting out here, Ronald. You'd better hurry, or we'll miss our chance to have breakfast with Rose!"

Finally turning to face his friend, Ron's eyes searched the room one last time before his face twisted into a huge grin. "Lavender, huh? Bloody brilliant, mate! Way ta go!"

He was about to stick out his hand for a friendly shake when he cringed while hearing, "I HEARD THAT! YOU CAN JUST WALK YOURSELF UP TO THE CASTLE, RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!!" Shortly after that, the door to the greenhouse could be heard slamming loudly.

"I see her hormones are still running pretty wild from the pregnancy, eh? Now, what are you guys doing here, anyways?" Neville asked.

"Oh, she's getting better now, though…she still has her days. Anyway, we're here to see the match, of course. Couldn't expect me not to see my quiddich prodigy's first ever match, could ya?" With this, his face took on an expression of superiority. "Well, I better get going; I think I'll be making up for this 'til at least next Tuesday, if I'm lucky. Doesn't hurt to get an early start though, right?" Walking up to Neville, Ron gave him a manly slap to the back and said, "I meant what I said, though; bloody brilliant work, mate. It's about time you got yourself a bird!" Finishing that, he was out the door.

Just as he was about to leave, he turned back and yelled, "Oh, and Nev? Can I leave this box here until just before the match? It's a little…surprise, you know, to show my Gryffindor spirit."

Muttering, "Yeah, sure, whatever," yet not knowing what Ron had said, Neville felt himself being pulled away from his friends voice by his own thoughts.

'What just happened? How could the morning possibly have gone from being so perfect to being such a perfect _nightmare_ so fast? And, bloody hell, the look on Lavender's face when she shimmied out of here; I'll be lucky if she'll ever talk to me again. This is not good.'

Concluding that this morning probably could not have gotten off to a much worse start, he did the only thing he could think to do, and collapsed onto his bed, curling up and praying to any power he could that all this was just a dream.

* * *

After coming to the unfortunate conclusion that his early morning shenanigans where indeed not a dream, Neville quickly decided not to go to breakfast. 'I definitely can't look Ron or Hermione in the eye right now, and…oh Merlin, I don't even know what I'd do if Lavender were there.' So, he contented himself with water and what few snacks he had brought from the Great Hall over the past few weeks. 

The rest of the morning passed by uneventfully, and before he knew it, it was time for Neville to go to the quiddich pitch. Entering the staff seating area, Neville looked around and released a sigh as he saw that neither Ron, Hermione, nor Lavender had arrived yet. He quickly took a seat near the front of the stands, next to Professor Ardent, the Slytherin Head of House.

"Good afternoon, Longbottom. Ready to lose?" he asked, smirking at his fellow professor. "I must say, while I've never really been much for this whole 'quiddich' thing, having a house trophy at stake does make things rather exciting, doesn't it?"

Not really feeling the energy to argue, Neville merely shook his head in compliance with his fellow professor. Ardent must have taken the hint, for he did not speak to him further.

After a few more moments of silence, Neville heard Ron say from behind, "Hey Nev! Look back here!"

Turning his head, Neville's eyes immediately focused on a very familiar looking hat in the shape of a lion's head, which was currently perched upon Ron's skull. 'Merlin, I'm gonna need a headache potion before this day's over.'

"I borrowed it from Luna! Can you believe I used to think this sweet baby was daft?" exclaimed his very excited friend. Hermione, for her part, seemed to be attempting to distance herself from her husband, sitting at the opposite end of the bench from him. After he tapped his wand to the hat, causing it to roar out loudly, she stood and took a different seat, two rows back. Seeing his wife's actions, he grinned back at Neville, "Oh, don't mind her, she's just no fun! Can you believe she actually tried to talk me out of bring it?"

"I couldn't ever understand why," Neville muttered, turning around in his seat and facing the pitch. By now, almost all the students were seated, and the team introductions would begin. 'Merlin, please, just let it end quickly,' he thought to himself.

* * *

_Stomp, stomp, CLAP! Stomp, stomp, CLAP! Stomp, stomp, CLAP!_

Though it was mostly only the Gryffindors performing this action, the sound of their combined effort reverberated off of every wall in the stadium. It was obvious that the Slytherin team was affected, as they all stared at the Gryffindor stands. Neville couldn't help but smile at what he knew was coming next.

Jonathon Franklin, keeper and Captain of the Gryffindor team, had approached him a couple weeks prior to the match, saying that he felt that the team introductions were too…boring, and that he wanted to know if he could spice things up a bit. Neville thought it was an excellent idea, and after some coaxing to the Headmistress, she agreed as well. While he didn't know everything that was going to happen, he knew it would be interesting.

Suddenly, the stomping and the clapping grew even louder, and Neville realized that this was due to some sort of amplified sound being added to the actual antics of the Gryffindors. "AND NOW…" rumbled the voice of the student commentator, who also happened to be a Gryffindor, "I INTRODUCE TO YOU…YOUR…GRYFFINDOR LIONS!!" As he concluded, music filled the stadium, a song that any muggle student would have recognized as the opening instrumental portion of "We Are the Champions" by Queen.

As the music was playing, Neville saw the Gryffindor quiddich team all take to the air at the same time, then form a single row seven members wide. They then proceeded to sweep just over the heads over everyone in the stands, doing a complete circle around the pitch. Their brooms trailed out crimson and gold smoke, so that a series of crimson and gold strips settled over the spectators. As they passed overhead, Neville noticed that each team member had their face charmed so that the right half was crimson, and the left half gold. All in all, he thought it was a spectacular display, as did the rest of the crowd, who by now where going wild. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were cheering madly at this point. Nobody even seemed to mind when Ron sounded out the growl of his lion hat.

Looking at the Slytherin team, the extravagant introduction seemed to be taking the proper effect, as their players looked confused or downright awed by what was going on around them. 'Well done, Franklin, Well done," Neville thought.

After the players finished their loop, they quickly took their positions and waited for Madam Hooch to toss up the quaffle, starting the game.

As things started, Neville could see that both teams had come to prepared to play. Both seekers zoomed through the skies madly, looking for the snitch, while the quaffle passed from player to player, sometimes being shot at the opposing team's goal, yet never getting past either keeper. Both teams looked to be evenly matched, and the game looked like it was going to be a long one.

After about twenty minutes, with neither team yet to score, an errant pass by a Slytherin chaser landed the quaffle into the hands of little Rose Weasley for the first time. Quickly she zoomed across the pitch, making her way to the Slytherin goal rings. Watching her dodge and duck madly to avoid bludgers being sent her way, Neville's attention was diverted as he saw the entire Slytherin portion of the stands rise to their feet. 'Oh no,' he thought, 'looks like Malfoy prepared his son well. Here we go again.' As this thought concluded, he heard a terribly familiar chorus rang out.

**_Weasley cannot toss a thing, _**_**  
**_**_Sh__e can't pass through a single ring, _**_**  
**_**_That's why Slytherins all sing: _**_**  
**_**_Weasley is our King._**

So caught up in the song was he, that he did not notice until afterwards Rose swoop in, fake a pass to her left, fling the quaffle to her right, and deftly score the game's first ten points. The Slytherins all noticed, though, and quickly hushed their singing. 'Well,' he thought amusedly, 'it looks like that song doesn't hold the same power over the next generation.'

As the commentator was announcing her goal, Rose did a low fly-over of the Slytherin stands, cupping her hand to her ear as she did so. 'I'm gonna have to talk to her about sportsmanship, I see,' Neville thought. All other thoughts were blasted out of his head, however, as a deafening roar erupted from behind him. Looking out to Rose, he thought he could faintly see her cheeks tint red slightly, and she quickly stopped her scoring celebration and retook her place on the field.

After another hour and a half of tight defensive play, the game was very low scoring, with Gryffindor scoring four more times while Slytherin scored three. Neville couldn't help but notice, however, that Rose seemed to have no more interest in taking shots at the rings, but rather she took every opportunity to pass to her teammates instead.

Suddenly, the crowd roared to life as the Slytherin seeker shot like a dart towards the grassy pitch, obviously having caught sight of his prey. Following closely behind was the Gryffindor seeker, who also seemed to see the snitch. As both players plummeted to the earth, the crowd suddenly became quiet, the tension of the moment becoming too much for them all. Neville could now see the small golden ball, as it seemed to taunt the ever-so-close players. Just as they were about to reach the ground, the Slytherin seeker wrenched his broom to level out and zoom forward, following his target, while the Gryffindor seeker was in position to do nothing other than veer off to the left. 'Oh no,' he thought. 'It looks like they're gonna win.'

Preparing himself for the worse, Neville was extremely surprised by the quick series of events that took place next. Just as the Slytherin seeker was about to reach for the elusive golden ball, it swerved directly left, leaving him reaching for air. Pulling up to turn around and regain his pursuit, he was nearly knocked off his broom as a blur of crimson and gold zoomed by from the left, the Gryffindor seeker having looped around and swooped in. As luck would have it, the snitch cut in the direction that she was coming from, and therefore flew right into her awaiting hands. So fast did all this happen, that not even the game commentator announced the winning grab until nearly five seconds post catch.

'Well, it was a lucky win, but I'll take it. I woulda hated being at that party tonight if we had lost,' Neville thought. All further thoughts were drowned out by the near continuous roaring of that blasted hat. If it was the last thing he ever did, Neville was going to see that hat dismantled into the smallest possible pieces.

* * *

After the on-field celebrations died down, all the players headed to the locker rooms, while Neville made his way to the outside of the Entrance Hall. After about half an hour, he saw players from both teams making their way back to the castle, the Gryffindors looking jubilant, the Slytherins looking…displeased. 

While he had waited, he kept an eye out for Lavender. True, a big part of him did not want to see her right now, but another part of him was beginning to worry about her. If she had attended the game, she had not sat in the staff seating area. He wondered if she had just chosen to lock herself up in her quarters until after Ron and Hermione were gone.

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as he saw a radiantly proud Ron Weasley carrying his heavily giggling daughter on his shoulders. She was back in her school robes, and her face had been charmed back to its normal color. Neville wasn't sure he had ever seen Ron look as happy as he did at that moment. He was boasting to anyone who would listen about the "absolutely brilliant" play of his daughter. Walking a few paces behind and shaking her lowered head was Hermione. Though she tried to play like she was not happy with the scene, he could see the tell-tale twitches of a smile at the corners of her lips none the same.

Reaching him, Ron lifted his daughter effortlessly and placed her on the ground before clapping her on the back and looking at Neville. "So, what did you think?" His smile was so radiant that Neville thought he was going to have to squint his eyes when looking at him.

"Very impressive, Rose. How'd it feel to score your first goal?" he asked.

"Really great, Professor Longbottom! I can't wait to get out there and play some more!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Seeing Hermione's frown, Neville chuckled lightly before saying, "Well, that's very good, but remember that it's just a game, and that your studies should always come first."

Seeing both she and her father's faces go slack in disbelief, while receiving an approving nod from Hermione, Neville knew he had said the right thing. "Just a game?" both father and daughter asked at the same time.

Laughing some more, he finally turned to Rose and said, "Well, why don't you say goodbye to your Mum and Dad real quick, then head up to the tower. I'm sure all your housemates are already there getting in a little early celebrating."

Nodding her head, she ran to her Mum and gave her a hug and a kiss, then ran over to her father and giggled like mad when he picked her up and spinned her in the air before setting her down and giving her a big hug. 'She's definitely Daddy's little girl,' Neville thought.

Finally releasing his grip on his daughter, Neville watched her run through the entrance doors to the castle before turning back to his friends. "Well," he said, "it's been great having you guys here, although I suppose I should discourage you from coming to future games. I mean, parental support is great, but we usually don't let parents come to the matches."

Glancing back to his now frowning wife, Ron smiled nervously to Neville before saying, "Oh, don't worry, she-" as Hermione swatted her husband on the head, he restated, "Er, I mean _we_ agreed that we would only come to Rosie's first game. But hey, it was still great to see, right? Kinda like, being part of history, or somethin'."

Suddenly, Hermione stepped forward swiftly and stuck out her hand. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Professor Longbottom," she said, rather mechanically. Seeing that all he was going to get from her was a handshake, Neville ducked his head and extended his own hand. Directly after the shake was over, she spun on her heel and began heading directly for the entrance gates.

"Sorry about that," Ron said, "I guess she's still a little worked up about this morning. Believe me when I tell you that you got the _gentle_ treatment. Anyway, don't worry about it, I'll work on her and have you back in her good graces in no time. Take care, mate." Then, leaning in and flashing a mischevious smile, he quietly muttered, "And don't you two kids go doing anything I wouldn't do!" With that, he also turned and left.

With both of his friends gone, Neville finally turned and headed towards the castle, having made up his mind that he needed to find Lavender. His only hope was that he could get this whole mess sorted out before time for the two of them to report to the Great Hall for the party. 'How awkward is it gonna be if we are on chaperone duty, and can't even look one another in the eye?' he thought. Groaning slightly to himself, Neville began the long climb to the seventh floor.

* * *

A/N: Whew, done! Man, that chapter was sooooo much more than it started out being. First of all, for all you quiddich fans out there ready to chop my head off and serve it to me on a platter for my abbreviated game scene, let me just tell you that: first, I didn't think I could write a very good, in-depth quiddich sequence, and second, that's not what I wanted this chapter to focus on, anyways. Now, on to more important matters; how'd you guys like it? You all know that Ron would be_that Dad_, there's no denying it. If any of you out there are starting to think that Neville's acting a little too confident around Lavender all of the sudden, well, all I can tell you is this: he's been getting a pretty steady supply of sex from her for almost two months now, and that's enough to add a little weight to any man's trousers, if you catch my drift. At least, that's how I see it. Anyways, like it, hate it, let me know. In other words, REVIEW!! 

Cheers!!


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